Asphodel
by MemoryStormSanctuary
Summary: Tempest Constantine was born a hunter. With her parents gone, foster care isn't a place she can belong. Her early adventures in hunting on her own bring her face to face with some of the stranger creatures this world has to offer. It's a wild ride from the start, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
1. Introduction

Introduction

I've long told you the story of Sam and Dean. Two brothers bonded over loss and struggle. But I think perhaps it's time to tell another story, the story of someone you've met before. A character you probably dismissed as a one time occurrence, just like I did. But here we are, telling a new story. Their story.

Sam and Dean are only one of many hunting families. One of the lesser known ones at that. But there are families that have hunted for so long, even we've heard of them. The story I'm about to tell you is one of theirs. The story of a girl who sees more than any other, a boy who knows everything to come, and a girl who is a trickster at heart. A story of new creatures that Sam and Dean never dared dream of. Another story of struggles that though are triggered by the Supernatural, I think we'll all find them a little relatable. Another story of family, made by blood, but not ending there

I welcome you into the life of hunters, who lose everyone. Who are only children, but must continue on the family legacy. Of children who have no chance of ever being normal. Children fighting monsters that most adults would run away from. It's another sad story, but I'm not so sure it's going to end that way. Maybe, just maybe, they'll be the hunters who save us all.

Without any more delay, here is the story of Asphodel.

* * *

 _A/N: This intro is how Chuck introduced these characters into the series. It will be explained at a later date how exactly they meet Sam and Dean and how they get involved in the story. At the point the intro is written season three has ended. All the stories however take place before or during season three. Hope you enjoy!_


	2. Oleander

The young blonde was peculiar, that was certain. Everyone of the seemingly endless households to take her in sent her away. The reasons varied, but there were many commonalities. She'd steal salt from the kitchen or garage and sprinkle it across doors and windows. She'd buy (or steal) spray paint and paint pentagrams on the ceilings, and on rare occasions the floor. She'd whisper in latin and flick water in the face of any who approached her. If the lights so much as flickered she'd search for iron, and many houses suspected her of carrying weapons, though none could prove it. She'd pick fights, and most worrisome of all come home late at night covered in blood. She'd never say who's blood. Just take off the clothing and, depending on the amount of blood, wash them out or burn them. It was never a surprise when the social worker came calling, telling the blonde it was time to move on.

A soft knock at the door made the blonde look up from the book opened in her lap. She narrowed her pale blue eyes at the door in suspicion. They flicked up to the ceiling where a pentagram was painted in red spray paint, insuring it was still intact.

"Come in." The blonde said shortly, closing the leather bound notebook she held and setting it off to the side. The door opened slowly, revealing the only constant person in the blonde's life. Ms. Autumn Bennet was the social worker who had the unfortunate luck of getting the blonde's case. She had dark curly hair that she usually left down around her rounded face. Her eyes were a hazel color that more often looked green than anything else. She had pale skin that was almost as covered in freckles as the blonde's own. She was fairly young, just out of college in the blonde's knowledge.

"Tempest." Ms. Bennet began, stepping into the room. Her eyes flicked up to the ceiling as an afterthought. She let out an unsurprised sigh seeing the pentagram.

"Constantine." The blonde corrected. She had always hated her first name, even more now that her parents were dead. She could only think of the way her parents would shorten her name every time they addressed her. Or how her younger brother had struggled to say her name for years, calling her 'Emp' most of the time.

"Constantine." Ms. Bennet began once again. She gave another sigh, looking at Constantine in pity. "I'm sure you know what me being here means." She said softly. Her voice was almost always soft. Constantine was yet to hear her raise her voice.

"Time for me to pack my bags and get out?" Constantine guessed half heartedly. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"I wouldn't word it that way." Ms. Bennet said reluctantly. She was attempting to smile but failing on a grand scale. It amused Constantine. "But the Baker's feel you'd be better off somewhere else." Constantine laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, a mental ward." She said sarcastically. She stood up from her bed and crossed the room to the closet, ignoring the look she was getting from her social worker. Constantine grabbed a dark green duffle bag from the floor and tossed it to the bed. The bag was filled with clothes and books, and a flash of silver that might have been a flask. "Good thing I didn't bother unpacking."

"Well, let's get going." Ms. Bennet said with a tight frown. She was holding her tongue about something, but Constantine didn't care enough to discover what.

Ms. Bennet's small Ford was one of the only things Constantine saw on a regular basis, and she hated it. It was a newer model, lacking a lot of the style the classics had. Constantine had a lot of respect for Ford, her dad had driven a Mustang her entire life. But she thought the new models needed a lot of work. Even worse, Ms. Bennet's ford was the same silver every other of the same model seemed to be.

Constantine sat in the front seat, her head leaned up against the window. The leather bound book she had been reading was unopened in her lap, and she wouldn't dare open it in front of Ms. Bennet. She absent mindedly watched the world pass by out the window.

"What's that you were reading?" Ms. Bennet asked. Constantine grinned softly to herself, Ms. Bennet could never stand silent car rides.

"My mom's journal." Constantine replied. She ran her hand over the familiar leather. The only thing she really had left of her mother, besides her wedding band she wore on a chain around her neck. Ms. Bennet nodded but didn't speak, pursing her lips together. She had more to say, probably something about Constantine. The young blonde rolled her eyes. "Spit it out." Constantine said with a sigh.

"Are you even trying?" Ms. Bennet asked. Constantine narrowed her eyes turning her attention fully to Ms. Bennet.

"What?" She asked in confusion. She was trying to do a lot of things, Ms. Bennet had to be a little more specific.

"Are you trying to settle in, give yourself a new home?" Ms. Bennet elaborated. Constantine frowned and returned attention back to the outside world. Of course the one thing she brought up was the one thing she wasn't trying to do.

"I don't want a new home. I want my old one." Constantine said coldly. Ms. Bennet sighed and glanced at the young blonde beside her for a second before returning her attention to the road. Constantine looked too old for a thirteen year old, like the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders. But what had made her seem that way was beyond Ms. Bennet.

"I know, and I wish you didn't need a new home." Ms. Bennet said softly. She paused for a moment to let her words sink in. She hated seeing kids going through such hard lives. But that was why she did her job, to make things better. "You know, I've been looking into your family." she said. Constantine immediately turned her attention back to Ms. Bennet.

"And." She asked a little too hopefully for her own liking.

"Well, your father has family that's all in Britain, second and third cousins mostly. No direct family." Ms. Bennet said. Constantine frowned and dismissed the information. It was no use to her, even if they were part of her family's business.

"And what about my Mom?" Constantine pressed.

"Your mother had three younger siblings. Two brothers and a sister. Their parents died a long time ago." Ms. Bennet said. Constantine rolled her eyes. She knew this, she had seen plenty of family pictures, though she had only met one of her uncles.

"So where are her siblings?" Constantine demanded. Ms. Bennet sent her a shocked look, obviously not expecting the response she had gotten.

"Your Aunt Nicole lived mostly off the map, she died about 8 years ago according to most sources. It was due to a particularly difficult childbirth of twins. The kids father took them and vanished without a trace. It's like he didn't even exist. Your Uncle Toby was significantly easier to find. He lived in Ann Arbor, with his wife and three boys. But unfortunately he passed rather recently and his boys are missing. Your Uncle Jacob, practically doesn't exist. No record of him anywhere." Ms. Bennet explained. Constantine rolled her eyes.

"Of course." She muttered, once again regretting belonging to the type of family she did. She brushed back her bangs looking back out the window with a glare. "Where are we going anyway?" Constantine asked, looking for a change in the subject.

"My place." Ms. Bennet answered. Constantine looked at her in surprise. The dark haired woman didn't look at her, just kept her gaze on the road.

"Isn't there a rule against that?" Constantine asked. Ms. Bennet nodded.

"Usually." She confirmed. "But I can't find a home willing to take you. I talked to my supervisor and we decided you'd stay with me for a few days. Only until I can find a family." Constantine snorted, attempting to hold in a laugh.

"Good luck. Everyone in the state has probably heard of my bad habits." Constantine said. Ms. Bennet let out yet another sigh, which wasn't surprising to Constantine. She managed to draw a lot of those from her social worker.

"I'm sure we can fix those habits." Ms. Bennet said softly. Constantine tilted her head to the side in confusion. Ms. Bennet had never shown any intention of changing her unfortunate habits. Why on earth was she bringing it up?

"What are you saying?" Constantine asked warily.

"I'm saying if you'd just talk to your psychiatrist-" Ms. Bennet began, only to be cut off by Constantine. Constantine clenched her fist in frustration.

"My psychiatrist thinks I'm crazy!" She objected angrily. Her eyes were tearing up. Constantine quickly wiped her eyes before Ms. Bennet could notice. It wasn't successful, as Ms. Bennet glanced over in time to see her brush the tears away.

"You've talked to your psychiatrist about these habits?" Ms. Bennet asked. Constantine nodded, blinking back her tears of frustration. Ms. Bennet pressed her lips together into a tight frown. "And what did they say?" She asked. Constantine looked away.

"That I was really sick and needed help. I obviously was suffering from some childhood trauma my parents caused and it was playing into the schizophrenia." Constantine said bitterly. She laughed to herself. She was actually supposed to be on a mood stabilizer along with her antipsychotic, but she didn't know what had happened to the pill bottle. Nor did she actually care.

"What did you tell them?" Ms. Bennet asked curiously. It was the first she was hearing of this at all.

"To fuck off." Constantine replied blandly. Ms. Bennet gave a heavy sigh, not exactly surprised. It would be too much to hope that she had actually been civil with her doctor.

"Tempest." Ms. Bennet began. Constantine put up her hand to stop Ms. Bennet from speaking. It wouldn't be anything she hadn't heard before. Be civil, they're only trying to help, blah, blah, blah.

"Listen, I don't want to talk about it." Constantine said simply. Ms. Bennet sighed heavily but didn't argue. Constantine put her hand down and looked back to her social worker warily. "How's James doing?" She asked.

Ms. Bennet sighed. Constantine wasn't supposed to know anything about her brother's whereabouts. Not while the investigation was still going on. Constantine had been accused of killing her parents and nearly killing her brother. Her brother, James, had been moved out of state for safety reasons. Claiming Constantine might go after the only witness. The only thing they had to go off of was James' words, she didn't mean to.

"I'm really not supposed to tell you." Ms. Bennet began. "But, I hear he's doing great. The family who took him in, the Novak's, are looking to adopt him." She continued. Constantine smiled a little and nodded, looking back out the window again.

It wasn't too long later that they arrived at Ms. Bennet's home. She lived in a two story home not far off from a cemetery. It wasn't that large of a house but Constantine wasn't bothered by that. The area looked like it was quiet enough, but it probably had its fair share of trouble. The road the house was on wasn't that busy, which was another advantage.

Constantine was given the guest room on the second floor. It had easy access to the roof from the window which was an advantage. There was only one window, which was perfectly fine with Constantine. That meant she only had to set up two salt lines. Constantine fished around in her bag, finding the salt container and spray paint. Ms. Bennet watched from the doorway as Constantine sprinkled salt across the window.

"What do these protect you from?" Ms. Bennet asked. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. Constantine glanced at her, debating on answering truthfully or making up some lie.

"Salt keeps away spirits and demons, they can't cross over the line." Constantine explained, deciding to tell the truth. The chances were that Ms. Bennet would just brush her off as crazy, so it wasn't that harmful. She wouldn't believe her. "The pentagram is called a devil's trap. If a demon steps into it, they can't get out or use any of their abilities." She continued throwing her duffle bag into the closet before looking for a chair to be able to reach the ceiling.

"So why's the devil's trap on the ceiling?" Ms. Bennet asked. Constantine smirked as she shook up the spray paint bottle.

"Smarter demons can always blow away salt. But they never seem to look up, no matter how smart." She said with a grin. Ms. Bennet laughed a little and shook her head. She turned away to leave Constantine to her own devices.

Constantine spent more than a few days with Ms. Bennet. It was clear after the first week as Constantine had predicted, no family in their right mind would take her. And none out of their right minds stepped up. Several attempts were made to contact Constantine's British family, but none came through. But Constantine didn't mind for once. Ms. Bennet didn't ask too many questions about what she was doing. Didn't question the water in her face after coming home from work, or the very obvious bullet holes that were appearing around her house. She didn't question Constantine coming home late at night with several cuts and bruises. She must have just learned she'd never get a satisfactory answer even if she asked.

But all good things had to come to an end.

Constantine sat up on the roof outside of her window, having cleared a spot in the light snow. Her eyes looked up to the sky, searching the stars that shone down upon her looking for the constellations her mother had taught her. She used the color of the stars to remember where each constellation began. She remembered her mother telling her every star was an angel watching over them. The stars color was the color of the angels wings.

"It's a little cold to be out here without a jacket." Constantine turned at the sound of Ms. Bennet's voice. Ms. Bennet climbed out the window with a blanket over her shoulders. Her curly hair was pulled back from her face. She sat beside the blonde teenager, throwing the blanket over her shoulders as well. Constantine gratefully accepted the warmth. She had realized she had been getting cold.

"What can I say, I'm a winter baby." Constantine said with a grin. Ms. Bennet returned the grin before letting her eyes shift to the sky. She smiled softly, her hazel eyes locked onto one star in particular.

"You know, when I was younger my mom used to tell me every star was a person praying. The glow was the angels listening." Ms. Bennet said, still smiling. She did that sometimes. Told Constantine how growing up was for her, hoping Constantine would tell her something about how she grew up. Constantine smiled, leaning her head against Ms. Bennet's shoulder.

"My mom told me every star was an angel. The color of the star matched the angels wings." Constantine said softly. Ms. Bennet looked down at her in confusion. Most people did when she mentioned the color of the stars, or asked if others heard the whispers.

"The color?" Ms. Bennet asked. Constantine nodded. Instead of explaining she pointed to a star in Orion.

"That star is violet." She said. She pointed to another star, not far away. "That one's blue, and right next to it is a black star. No one else can see the black stars." Constantine lowered her arm slowly, keeping her eyes fixed on the black star. She was silent, waiting for Ms. Bennet to react.

"Wow." Ms. Bennet said with a wonder filled voice. Her eyes stayed on the sky, trying to find a star of a different color. They all looked the same to her. Bright white glows of fire burning thousands upon thousands of miles away.

"Does that make you think I'm crazy?" Constantine asked softly, glancing to her social worker. Ms. Bennet looked down at her, meeting her eyes calmly.

"No." Ms. Bennet said calmly. "It makes me think you're special." She said, looking back to the stars.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, keeping their eyes on the stars and their thoughts far away. It was peaceful, something that Constantine wasn't used to. But she was enjoying it. Maybe she could get used to it.

Ms. Bennet sighed and stood, leaving the blanket draped over Constantine's shoulders.

"Don't stay out here too long, okay?" She said before climbing back in the window. Constantine nodded, but didn't really hear her. Constantine was too busy listening to the soft whispers only she could hear. She hadn't taken her medication that day, which was the only reason she heard the voices today.

Constantine spent at least another hour out on the roof. She got lost in the starry sky. She counted under breath, the blue stars, then the violet, then the red, then white. Most were various shades of white. White like snow and white like clouds. Her favorite of the white stars was really silver, but it faded to white as it got farther from the center. She liked gold stars too, but there weren't very many of them. But the rarest kind were her favorite. The black stars. There was only one black star in the sky that night. A small meek star that was hardly shining. It hid behind the glow of a bright blue star.

"It's ok, I see you." Constantine whispered softly to the star. She had always talked to the stars. Sometimes it seemed like the stars were the only ones who would listen to her. No one wanted to believe a child who heard voices and had 'hallucinations'.

Constantine was dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of glass shattering. It sounded close, like it was somewhere in the house. Constantine got to her feet, slowly going back towards the window. There were a few moments of silence that almost lulled her back into a sense of security. The peace was broken by a scream that could only belong to Ms. Bennet.

Constantine slipped into the window as quickly as she could, leaving the blanket forgotten on the roof. She searched her room, trying to find the best weapon she could. She stopped her search short when she heard another scream, settling for a large knife she had hidden behind her desk. She didn't know what she was dealing with, but chances were a knife wouldn't do much. She couldn't remember if the knife was silver or not, but she hoped it was.

Constantine rushed down the stairs into the living room. She slowed as she reached the bottom, looking for any sign of what made Ms. Bennet scream. She saw the glass from the front window scattered across the floor, looking like a thick layer of frost spread across the floor. A cold wind blew in the window, moving the curtains gently. Constantine tensed at every little move the curtains made. She skirted around the glass carefully, going towards the kitchen where a light was turned on. Constantine heard a soft whimper, confirming the guess that the attacker was in there with their victim.

Inside the kitchen door Constantine stopped to take in the room. Her eyes immediately went to the man pinning Ms. Bennet to the floor. His teeth were sunk into her neck, draining the blood from her body making her lose all color in her skin. The attacker had dark unkempt hair and deathly pale skin. Almost like he was a corpse walking. Constantine suspected he might have been. She swore she had seen this vamp before. In the nest her parents had rescued her from.

Constantine shook the fear from her mind and picked a vase up off the counter beside her. She threw the vase at the man, shattering it upon impact. The man slowly detached himself from Ms. Bennet, looking at Constantine the way she suspected a cat looked at a mouse that wandered into it's lair. His brown eyes were bloodshot and watched Constantine lazily. Like he didn't know if she was worth his time, wandering her body from her feet to her eyes. Constantine quirked an eyebrow with a calm look.

"Looking for something Drac?" She asked, arrogance that she didn't really have in her voice. The vampire turned and jumped at Constantine, hissing loudly. Constantine ducked to the side, sliding easily on the tile floor. The vampire seemed unprepared for the tile and slid to the ground. Constantine turned quickly and brought the knife down on the vampires neck. The knife cut through flesh easily, splattering blood onto the wall and floor. Constantine dropped the knife and turned to Ms. Bennet, ignoring the dead body. She took a towel from a drawer and pressed it against Ms. Bennet's neck. Luckily it seemed to be bleeding very little for a neck injury. Constantine decided to take that as a good sign rather than a bad one.

"Please don't bleed out." Constantine pleaded, as if it was something Ms. Bennet could control in her hardly conscious state. "Now's probably not the time, but I told you so. Don't die before I can clean up my mess." Constantine said. She stood up quickly and turned to the body. She had two choices. Leave the dead body and let Ms. Bennet try to explain to the police where it came from. Or she could get rid of it and let everyone think she was the one to attack Ms. Bennet, as this was the same manner her parents died.

Constantine decided as amusing as it would be to watch she couldn't leave a dead vampire for the police to find. She grabbed the arm of the vampire with one hand and grabbed the head with the other. She dragged the vampire out of the house to the graveyard across the street. She had never been so grateful for it's presence before. Even more she was grateful for the convenient open graves prepped for a funeral the next day. She threw the body into the grave and covered it up as quickly as she could.

Constantine returned to the house and went straight to the kitchen. She grabbed a phone before crouching beside Ms. Bennet and checking for a pulse. By some miracle she still had a pulse. Constantine stood dialing 911, looking around the kitchen for any of her belongings. She collected two knives and a handgun from the kitchen while the phone rang.

"911, what's your emergency?" A woman's voice asked from through the phone. She was calm, like Constantine knew she had to be working where she did,

"There's been a break in at 1209 Woodmere St. I think the homeowner might have been attacked. There was a scream." Constantine said, as she went through the lower floor. She found another two knives, three flasks of holy water, one of whiskey, and at least three different protection amulets. It was unusual for her belongings to scatter that far, but she had been here for much longer than normal.

"Alright, police are enroute." The woman said calmly, Constantine heard sharp clicks of a keyboard as she spoke. "Can I have your name?" The woman asked. Constantine laughed as she got upstairs to her room, having collected at least the majority of her things. She dumped her things onto her bed going to her closet.

"Nope." Constantine answered, hanging up the phone and throwing the phone onto the bed. She grabbed her duffel bag and began throwing things in there in no specific pattern. As soon as the bag was filled she closed it up. She grabbed her leather jacket and slipped it on. She scribbled a note to Ms. Bennet quickly, her ears straining to hear the sirens before it was too late. After finishing the note she hid it under her mattress to make it less likely the police would find it.

Constantine was halfway down the street when the sirens blared past her, going to her old home. Constantine glanced back over her shoulder, but kept walking. She hoped they had gotten there in time. She would hate for Ms. Bennet to die because of this. It wasn't her fight. Constantine looked forward again with a bitter laugh.

"So much for angels watching out for us, huh mom?" Constantine asked, looking up to the stars for an answer. The stars didn't offer one. Constantine shook her head before continuing on her path to nowhere.

 _Dear Ms. Bennet,_

 _I'm going to make this simple on both of us and tell you what happened. You were attacked by a vampire and I killed it. Due to my previous encounters with vamps, I'm leaving and you will probably never see me again. I'm sorry that this is how you had to find out my childhood. This was a kinda normal event. Well monster hunting, not monsters breaking into my house._

 _All the things I told you about monsters was true. And if you really need me, know that's what I'll be doing. Hunting them just like my parents did. Sorry it's not the normal type of things you hoped for me. Normal has never really been in the equation for me. I know too much and have seen too much. Then there's the whole hearing and seeing things thing, but that's another._

 _Thanks for everything you've ever done for me. I owe you a lot. Sorry this is how we part._

 _Tempest Constantine_


	3. Solomon's Seal

**Solomon's Seal**

Constantine had seen a lot of things in her life, but nothing quite this strange. She flipped through the police reports she had managed to procure through, questionable, means while sitting on the hood of her father's- her car. In a small Ohio town not far from the Michigan border people were dying, leaving only a pile of skin, teeth, hair, some kind of questionable goo, and traces of blood.

Constantine stood and let out a heavy sigh. She had no clue what was going on here. She knew of no creature that could melt people. But all she knew was people appeared to be melting at random. Constantine threw the files into the passenger seat of the black Shelby GT500 Mustang before getting into the driver's seat. The car had been held in a storage area and was supposed to be held until she was old enough to take it. But it hadn't been too hard to steal it. She had found an old family friend who taught her how to make a fake license and other identification that was necessary for the job. He had mentioned it was fortunate Constantine looked older than she was. Made it less likely she would get questioned for being alone.

The young blonde looked into the rearview mirror with a frown. She did look a little older she guessed. She had turned fourteen shortly after having left Ms. Bennet. That had been several months ago. If Constantine had to wager a guess she looked seventeen, maybe eighteen. It was a normal part of being a hunter. The amount of crap they saw, it made them grow up a little too fast.

Constantine started the engine, preparing to head into town and find a motel but stopped suddenly. The seemingly unconnected victims all had one thing in common. More someone really. Someone the police thought so incapable of murder he was hardly mentioned. Someone named Zach Morgenstern had been the last to see all of the victims alive. But he had an airtight alibi. Cameras on him at all times. It wouldn't have been possible for him to kill them. Unless he wasn't human of course.

Constantine turned to the seat beside her and opened the top police report and read over it quickly. She found where Zach Morgenstern was listed and read over it. His address was listed thankfully. She turned away flipping the file closed. Guess it was time to visit him.

Zach Morgenstern lived in a small, assumably cheap apartment right on the edge of town. Constantine knocked on his door calmly. She heard the sound of movement right away. She braced herself for someone who screamed monster. Had some sort of crazy glint in his eyes. When the door opened she felt her breath catch. She had definitely not been expecting this.

The one who answered the door was a young man, maybe just entering his twenties. He had bright blue eyes that made Constantine think of cold water almost turning to ice. His hair was a pale blonde, cut shorter on the sides than on the top, and was artfully tousled like he had just woken up. He was several inches taller than Constantine, meaning he had to look down at her even though he was leaning against the door frame. He had a slender build with narrow hips, and shoulders that weren't broad, but not narrow either. He wore a pair of blue jeans that had seen better days and a black v-neck t-shirt.

"Hi, um, are you Zach Morgenstern?" Constantine asked in a false cheery tone. The young man looked over her briefly. It was suddenly very apparent to Constantine she really didn't look great right now. A little too thin and her hair was definitely a mess.

"Yeah," The man decided with a mischievous grin. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Autumn Bennet. My cousin was recently killed, Neil, and I heard you were the last one to talk to him." Constantine explained. It was hard to keep focused on her lie while talking to him. She kept noticing different things, like he had two piercings in his ears. One silver stud with a black diamond right next to it on the right ear while the diamond was in the cartilage on the left ear. "I was wondering if you had any idea what happened to him." Constantine finished. Zach smiled at her sympathetically.

"I wish I had an answer. Neil was a good friend. He was over here hanging out, he left around midnight. Next thing I know the police are here telling me he melted, just like the last two." Zach explained. Constantine blinked in surprise.

"Last two?" She asked concerned. Zach seemed to realize then what he just said. Fear showed briefly in his crystal eyes.

"I just meant the other two victims left from here too." Zach began, but realized once again he wasn't helping himself. Constantine fought her urge to smile at his frustration. "But I didn't do anything, they were just clients." Zach said.

"Clients?" Constantine asked curiously.

"Yeah." Zach agreed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm a psychic reader. People are always asking for readings around here." He attempted a smile.

"Really?" Constantine asked. Zach nodded slowly. "That's amazing." Zach's eyes lit up at her excitement. It made him seem very childish.

"You think?" He asked with a soft smile. Constantine nodded. "I could show you a little if you want." He offered. Constantine nodded once again with a smile. She assumed he was just a fake, so there was no harm in it. Zach stood straight and stepped back from the door. Constantine entered the room calmly, looking around.

The apartment was plain. Nothing at all was visible that made the place seem personal. The walls were plain white and the furniture was black leather. It looked almost like it was staged for a showing, not currently lived in.

"Take a seat wherever you feel comfortable." Zach said. Constantine smiled sitting down on the edge of the couch. Zach sat down in the chair closest to her. He sat with his legs crossed which Constantine thought was odd, but oddly endearing.

"Let me see your right hand." Zach said. Constantine did as asked, holding her hand out to him. He took it gently, his eyes wandering over the lines in her palm. He held his tongue between his teeth as he studied her hand, making it appear he was thinking quite hard. Constantine found herself wondering if he really could see the future. "Wow." He finally said, forgetting his tongue was still in between his teeth.

"What?" Constantine asked. Zach looked up at her with a sympathetic look.

"You are going to have a rough life kid. Filled with everything. Betrayal, hate, anger, death." Zach explained with a sad smile. Constantine nodded slowly, not really surprised. Hunters usually had those types of lives. "But it's not all bad. There is love and loyalty. Friendship, family, and few happy moments." He added.

"Guess I'll have to live for those." Constantine said with a smile. She couldn't dwell on the bad things, that would only get her killed a lot faster. She was already going to die young, no need to make it any younger.

"Yeah," Zach said with a nervous laugh. "I really wish you the best. I can't see exact details, but I know you're going to go through hell. Possibly literally. And you're extremely important to God's plan somehow." He continued, shaking his head. Constantine frowned pulling her hand back. Zach looked up at her concerned, light glinting off a silver necklace that hung around his neck. It was a cross tilted sideways, connected on a side instead of the top.

"I'm not a huge believer in God." Constantine said softly. He probably existed, but Constantine assumed he had long since stopped caring. Zach gave her a soft smile.

"With your luck, I don't blame you." He said.

"Well, it was nice talking to you. I should be going." Constantine said standing. Zach stood as well, brushing off his hands. He put his hands into his pockets walking with Constantine to the door. Constantine felt a strange rush of heat across her skin as he stood beside her.

"Of course, be careful out there." Zach said as they reached the door. He opened the door for her and stepped back. Constantine smiled at him as she stepped out the door. The moment she was no longer beside him the feeling of warmth vanished.

"Thank you." She said. Zach nodded once more before closing the door. The moment the door closed Constantine dropped her smile and turned away. She wasn't sure of Zach. She had decided he probably wasn't human, but something told her it wasn't him who had killed the people here. Something about him didn't seem evil, quite the opposite actually. Something about him seemed innately good. Like he was just a naive child.

Constantine left the apartment still confused. She found an abandoned building on the outer edge of town. A place where no one would question the sound of guns firing off. She laid out four guns on a table up against a wall. If her suspicions were correct, whether Zach was the killer or not, she'd be the next target. Whatever was killing these people seemed to be targeting those close to Zach. Maybe it was an obsessed monster that didn't want anyone near Zach. Maybe the monster had felt his goodness too. Or maybe Zach was a lot better at hiding his intentions than Constantine ever thought.

Constantine was only waiting a few minutes for someone to arrive. She heard the sound of footsteps first, before anything, which struck Constantine as odd but she didn't take the time to question it. She backed herself up to a wall, facing the only door into the room. She picked up the first gun that was filled with salt rounds, and positioned herself to fire. She slowed her breathing, waiting for the creature that the footsteps belonged to to come into her sights. The moment it did she fired.

Zach staggered back from the shots. He was more surprised than hurt, but that was to be expected, salt was only good against spirits. Constantine quickly discarded the first gun and picked up the next one that was filled with wrought iron rounds. She fired before Zach could recover. Though these rounds caused him damage, evident by the blood where the bullet hit him, Zach only sighed in exasperation. Constantine picked up the next gun and shot once again, this time using silver bullets. Zach took the bullets and glared at her, putting his hands on his hips.

"Are you done?" Zach asked calmly. He didn't seem at all hurt by anything Constantine had shot him with. Constantine picked up the last gun and turned it on Zach. When she pulled the trigger a spray of water hit him in the face. He closed his eyes and turned his head, spitting out the water. Constantine held back a laugh at his clear exasperation. "Are you done now?" he asked. Constantine shrugged innocently.

"That was all I got." She admitted. She was expecting Zach to attack her now. He didn't however. He looked at her suspiciously but seemed to decide she really was done.

"Reload the silver one. You're hunting a shape shifter." Zach said simply. Constantine glared at him, not moving. Though a shapeshifter did make sense, the melted remains the police were finding were probably the shifters skin left over after shedding. The real bodies were probably buried somewhere else, or burned. But Constantine didn't trust something that she didn't know how to kill, a very important rule to her.

"What are you?" Constantine demanded acidly. Zach gave a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. Constantine was surprised he hadn't seen the question coming. It seemed like a natural response to seeing someone who didn't die when they were shot.

"Nothing that plans on hurting you, Tempest." Zach said, looking worriedly over his shoulder towards the door. Constantine stepped away from him surprised. "Listen, this shifter is trying to run me out of town. I just want it dead."

"How did you know my name?" Constantine asked hostilely. Zach gave her an exasperated look, as if he didn't have time for her questions. Constantine didn't back down, only continued to glare at the unknown creature.

"It was written all over your palm. You Constantine's are hard to miss." Zach explained. He looked back over his shoulder again. He looked that way for a moment before looking back to Constantine. "Hurry up and load that gun." He ordered.

Constantine shot him a defiant glare but turned to oblige, picking up the gun that had been filled with silver. Before she could reload it, Zach was suddenly shoved into her. Constantine collided with the wall and slid down to the ground, the gun sliding from her grasp. Zach stopped himself where he had collided with Constantine, glaring towards the door.

"Hope you have a knife." Zach muttered, his eyes still locked on the creature that had shoved him. It was a pretty blonde girl with ringlet curls and hazel eyes. She was smiling maliciously at Zach as she slowly approached him.

"You finally caught on." The girl said with false sweetness. Zach shrugged and moved to the side of the room opposite Constantine. The blonde shifter followed him, ignoring Constantine entirely.

"Didn't take long." Zach admitted. "I just didn't know which one it was. Quite a few of your type around here. You could have just asked politely though. Would have been less trouble for both of us." He continued calmly. His eyes locked onto the shifter with an icy glare that Constantine felt could freeze over hell. The girl just shrugged.

"I had heard your kind were ass holes. I didn't think you would listen. Guess I'll just have to keep that in mind next time I see one." She said casually. Zach's glare only deepened, like the shifter had said the only thing that could possibly piss him off more. He looked ready to kill her.

Constantine watched, slowly pulling a silver knife from her boot. She was watching the shifter and Zach in fear. She wasn't sure who she was watching more. Zach was definitely scaring her more, but she hoped he wouldn't hurt her. But she couldn't be too sure. She had only just met him.

"You won't ever see one of my siblings. If you ever did you should bow before them, ungrateful child of Eve." Zach said quietly. His voice sent chills down Constantine's spine. She momentarily questioned what he meant, child of Eve? She quickly pushed the thought aside and sprung towards the shifter.

The shifter girl suddenly turned towards Constantine and kicked her, making Constantine fall. The shifter caught Constantine's wrist in her own hand. A sharp pain shot through Constantine's arm as she heard a loud snap. The knife fell from her hand and slid across the floor. The shifter threw Constantine down to the ground.

"Of course he hides behind the hunter brat." The girl said mockingly. Constantine glared at the shifter as she forced herself to her feet. She carefully cradled her broken wrist as she stared down the shifter.

"He's not hiding behind me." Constantine said simply. She had no clue why she was defending whatever Zach was. Maybe it had to do with the goodness he seemed to hold, or maybe because he was honestly the scariest thing in this room. But whatever the reason Constantine knew it was wrong to say he was hiding.

"You don't even know what he is, do you?" The shifter asked with a growing smirk. Constantine only stepped back. The shifter stepped forward and wrapped her hand around Constantine's throat and lifted her up, pinning her against the wall. "Let me tell you," The shifter said. "His kind has been watching this world from the beginning of time. They've watched you pathetic little humans struggle for eternity, and they've never done a thing. They just watch. They're spoiled brats who think they're special because daddy-"

Constantine never heard the end of that thought. The shifter suddenly tensed up and gasped. She coughed, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. Constantine looked over the shifters shoulder to see Zach with a neutral expression. His blue eyes looked to be watering, like he was about to cry. Constantine couldn't tell but she assumed that he was holding the knife and had stabbed the shifter.

"You talk too much, about things you don't understand." Zach said softly. Constantine could hear the strain in his voice, further confirming her belief that he was about to cry. He released the knife letting the shifter fall limp. Constantine gasped as the shifters hand fell away from her throat. Zach turned and walked away without a word. Constantine watched him leave cautiously, unsure what to do about him.

After Zach had left Constantine cleared away the evidence. She was pretty good at doing that. It was a task she had been assigned since the early days of her hunting career. Since the first time her parents took her hunting. She was taught how to hide the evidence so no one could prove there was a murder. That many times, this one included, involved arson.

It took a little longer than normal to clean up, do to only have use of one wrist. After starting the fire that she knew would quickly decimate the the entire building she went outside. Much to her surprise Zach was sitting on the hood of her 69 Mustang.

"You're the type to set fires to watch them burn?" He asked calmly. Constantine glared at him. She noticed a small bag slung over his shoulder. He seemed oddly cheerful for what had just happened.

"Who the hell are you?" Constantine demanded. Zach only laughed leaning back a little. Constantine was greeted again by the feeling he couldn't be evil. It oddly contrasted with what she had seen him do.

"Not Zach Morgenstern, that's for sure." Zach admitted. Constantine narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if Zach Morgenstern was a real person or not.

"Then what's your real name?" Constantine asked. Zach grinned softly.

"Zach, just Zach." He said. Constantine crossed her arms, careful of her broken wrist, she'd have to set it soon, and continued to glare at the blonde. He sighed and stood up, taking a step towards Constantine and away from the car. "Listen, you have no reason to trust me." He began.

"Damn right." Constantine snapped. Zach looked at her with pleading eyes. Constantine looked away, still frowning. Zach took that as permission to continue.

"I need to get out of this town." Zach said simply. Constantine looked at him with raised eyebrows. She didn't see what that had to do with her. "And you need a partner. Hunting alone is dangerous." He continued. Constantine could hardly believe what she was hearing. He wasn't seriously suggesting what she thought he was.

"Why do you care. You're not human." Constantine asked. Zach inclined his head in agreement.

"I'm not. But I've been around humans a long time. You guys have kinda grown on me, since Adam and Eve. I don't see the problem with helping out a particularly interesting one." Zach said. Constantine looked at him in shock. He had seen Adam and Eve. What creature could possibly live that long. "Look, I know a lot. And I'll give you a weapon capable of killing me, and teach you warding. That way if I turn out to be untrustworthy or just annoying you can kill me." He offered.

"What are you?" Constantine demanded again. She hoped he would answer this time, but she was treated with no such luck. He looked away instead, suddenly very interested by the ground. Constantine rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Give me the weapon." Constantine decided.

Zach reached behind him, into the bag he was carrying. He produced a silver blade that looked oddly cylindrical. The blade itself was triangular. There was no guard on the blade, making hard to tell where the hilt ended and where the blade began. Zach held it out to Constantine hilt first. She took it from him and looked it over quickly. She pointed the blade at his chest in a threatening manner.

"One misstep and this goes straight through your chest." Constantine said. Zach smiled brightly despite her threat. Constantine held back her urge to grin.

"Thank you." Zach said. Constantine frowned dropping her arm. She walked past Zach going to the car.

"Don't thank me yet." Constantine said. She glared down at her broken wrist, it was going to be a pain to drive with that. Zach looked at her concerned.

"Is your wrist broken?" He asked. Constantine glanced at him, and nodded then quickly looked away. She hated being hurt, especially when this thing wasn't at all harmed. It made her feel weak. Zach approached her and took the broken wrist into his hand. Constantine hissed in pain. Zach looked up at her in concern.

Once again Constantine felt a rush of heat across her skin. Zach quickly brushed his hand over her wrist. There was a bright flash of light and suddenly the pain was gone. Constantine blinked in surprise. She moved her wrist gingerly, testing for pain. To her surprise she didn't feel anything.

"Did you just…" Constantine began, looking up at Zach in complete shock.

"Heal your wrist? Yeah, take that as a clue." Zach replied calmly. He met Constantine's gaze calmly. He was challenging her. He wouldn't tell her what he was, but if she could figure it out, he wouldn't deny it. And he had already clued her in, in his own way. The blade and his healing her. There had to be a short list of creatures that held that particular type of blade and were capable of healing.

Constantine grinned at Zach playfully.

"Challenge accepted."


	4. Leaf of Ivy

**Leaf Of Ivy**

Constantine sat at the diner table reading the local newspaper. It was reporting on the death of yet another man and the disappearance of two young boys. Constantine was pretty sure there was something supernatural involved, and she had a fairly good idea of what it was. Zach sat across from her, his blue eyes watching her with surprising interest. He had a cup of coffee in front of him, though he had hardly noticed it.

"So what do you think?" Zach asked, tilting his head to the side. Constantine shrugged putting down the paper. She stretched out with a yawn.

"Looks like a basic woman in white. Maybe something off about her since she's kidnapping kids, but that will probably stop once we gank her." Constantine replied tiredly. She was running off of very little sleep, which was normal in the hunting life. "What do you think?" Constantine shot to Zach. Zach looked up at her calmly.

"Those kids are here too." Zach said conversationally. Constantine blinked in surprise. Zach's eyes flicked to the side quickly. Constantine followed his gaze, trying to look casual. Just as Zach had promised a set of siblings, Constantine assumed, were sitting together. One was a boy with tousled dark hair and an olive skin tone. He looked very tired, like he hadn't slept in a very long time, maybe months. He was leaning forward, drawing in a sketch pad. Across from him was a girl who looked extremely like him. The same dark hair and olive skin. She looked more well rested than the boy. She had thick rimmed glasses that were sliding down her nose as she looked at what her brother was drawing.

"I'm starting to think they're following us." Constantine said in a joking manner. Zach smirked at her before glancing at the two siblings. He watched them for a moment before turning his attention back to Constantine.

"They are following you." Zach said calmly. Constantine frowned thoughtfully. She reached across the table and grabbed the coffee in front of Zach.

"Well, let's get to work. Leave the kiddies to chase their tails." Constantine said. She took a sip of the coffee before making a face and standing up. "Needs whiskey." Constantine muttered throwing down a few dollar bills and walking away. Zach laughed as he stood and followed.

Back at their motel room Zach plopped down on one of the beds. He laid on his back with his eyes staring at the ceiling. Constantine sat at the small table by the front window pulling up her laptop. She quickly began to search the town records for any suicides that might have led to a woman in white. The room was filled with only the sound of keys clicking.

This had become the normal for Zach and Constantine. Despite being extremely old and a better memory than anyone that had ever existed, Zach really hated computers or any sort of electronic. Constantine didn't question it, she took it as a blessing. She'd hate to have to share her computer. Zach was useful in other ways. He'd seen just about everything and seemed to have access to anything he wanted. All Constantine had to do was find out what type of monster they were hunting and Zach would know how to kill it. It saved Constantine a lot of trouble in lore research, which was not her area of expertise. In her opinion that was the worst part of hunting.

But there was one thing Constantine was nervous about. A new threat she hadn't seen yet, but the silver blade Zach had given her was a constant reminder. Zach's 'family'. As he had promised he taught her several ways to handle his kind. Fighting strategies since they were faster than humans, wardings, and a banishing sigil that had to be drawn in blood. He still hadn't given away what he was. His only clue past the blade and his healing abilities were strange words he'd occasionally mutter. It was another language, that Constantine was sure of, but what it was she had no idea. She had been sending words and sentences to Bobby, but he was coming up empty handed every time.

"How are we going to lose those kids?" Zach asked suddenly. Constantine looked up at him calmly. He was still laying flat on his back, his arms crossed.

"Why should we bother? It's not like they're going to give us any trouble." Constantine said. Zach sat up a little, just enough to be able to see her.

"You don't think they'll pull something? They have to be following you for a reason." Zach said. He sounded mildly concerned. Constantine frowned looking back to her record search. She really didn't have a plan to deal with this.

"You think they're up to something?" Constantine asked. Zach nodded as if that were self explanatory. Constantine sighed heavily and rubbed her temple. "How are they following us again?" She asked.

"I have no clue." Zach replied nonchalantly. Constantine frowned. She really couldn't do anything if they didn't know how they were being followed. It wasn't like they left really obvious tracks to follow. They jumped from town to town pretty randomly. There was no obvious way she could think they were being followed.

"Well, as soon as you figure that out let me know. Then we'll come up with something." Constantine decided. Zach nodded, laying back again.

"Yes ma'am." He said, making Constantine smirk as she returned to her research.

Constantine found something hopeful rather quickly. It looked like the town wasn't huge on suicides, and one from about a hundred years ago fit the bill fairly well. A woman had been accused of killing her three small children, though her claim was she had taken them to the river to swim she looked away for a moment and when she looked up they had vanished. About a week afterward she drowned herself in the same river.

"I think I found her." Constantine announced not looking up from the computer. Zach looked up at her curiously, sitting up from his previously reclined position. "Isabella Lewis. She had three kids, one girl, two boys, that she was accused of drowning in the river. About a week later she drowned herself in the same river." Constantine explained out loud. Zach nodded and stood crossing to where Constantine sat. He leaned over her shoulder, reading over the screen. Constantine felt her skin heat up just standing next to him. She frowned to herself, not the time, or the person.

"She's taken two boys. Maybe she's going to take a girl next." Zach suggested. Constantine nodded. "So you go burn her bones and I go look to see if she's killing these kids or if they're still alive?" Zach suggested. Constantine nodded, closing her laptop.

"Sounds good to me. I'd check around the river first. Seems to be a big place to her." She agreed. She stood up and stretched, forcing Zach to take a step back from her. A sudden knock on the door made both of them tense up. Constantine shot Zach an accusing glare, assuming he had something to do with this. Zach only shrugged, clearly confused. Constantine frowned turning her attention back to the door.

Constantine slowly picked her handgun up off the table and walked to the door. Keeping the chain in place she slowly cracked open the door, looking to see who had found them. She was expecting someone that knew Zach, those were the only people that ever seemed to find them. Not his family, more his servants in Zach's own words. But to her surprise she was greeted with a pair of whiskey gold eyes that belonged to the boy from the diner. He looked even more tired up close, his olive skin had an unhealthy pale quality to it. Under his eyes was dark.

"Who are you?" Constantine asked warily. The boy rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Like you don't know. My sister and I have been following you for weeks now." The boy said bitterly. Constantine narrowed her eyes at him accusingly.

"That might be true, but that doesn't mean I know who you are." Constantine replied coolly. The boy rolled his eyes and shook his head. He muttered something under his breath that Constantine couldn't catch.

"I'm Hugo. Please let me in. I need your help." The boy said. Constantine looked the boy up and down cautiously. He looked young, probably three years younger than Constantine at the least. He was overly thin and looked like he hadn't slept decent in months. If worse came to worst, Constantine figured she could overpower him.

Constantine closed the door and unlocked the chain. She opened the door fully, stepping back to let Hugo in. She didn't bother hiding the handgun she still held. Hugo entered the room, his eyes darting around quickly. His eyes ghosted over the handgun before jumping to Zach. He narrowed his eyes at Zach in detestment but didn't speak as he turned to face Constantine as she shut the door.

"So Hugo, what brings you here?" Constantine asked in false concern. Hugo glared at her.

"The woman in white took my sister. At midnight tonight, she's going to drown those three kids like she did her own, hoping it will bring her kids back to her." Hugo explained. Constantine wasn't sure how this kid could possibly know this but she didn't see a reason to argue. She looked at the clock.

"Alright, we're at about 10 o'clock, that gives us two hours. Zach start looking for the kids, I'll take Hugo here to find the grave." Constantine ordered picking up her keys off the table. Zach nodded in agreement.

"She's buried in town right?" Zach asked. Before Constantine could answer Hugo spoke up.

"No, she's buried outside of town. I know where." He said quickly. Constantine glanced at him curiously but didn't say anything on the matter.

"Well, let's go gank this bitch." Constantine decided.

The car ride to the cemetery was silent apart from Hugo's directions out of town and toward the cemetery. Hugo seemed to be jumpy, hardly looking at Constantine as they drove. It was as if he expected her to attack him. His eyes constantly darted around the entire car, taking in minute details. Constantine glanced over at him frequently, and every time he looked afraid.

"Why so jumpy?" Constantine asked calmly. Hugo glared at her yet again. He didn't seem to like her too much at this point. It made Constantine realize how desperate he must have been to come to her for help.

"Maybe it's because I'm relying on some schizophrenic without her medication and a forsaken creature of hell to save my sister because my guardian angel decided to take a vacation." He snapped. Constantine glanced at him in shock. He definitely had to be desperate.

"Ok, I get it. No need for the sarcasm." Constantine said focusing back on the road. She blinked in surprise after a moment, totally processing what Hugo had said. "Wait, how did you know that?" She asked.

"Know what?" Hugo asked, acting innocent. He looked away from Constantine, watching out the window. Constantine assumed he was attempting to avoid eye contact after his strange comment. "Next right turn." He said conversationally.

"That I- I'm schizophrenic. We've never even met." Constantine replied, slightly annoyed with this boy. She hated talking about her diagnosis. Hugo was silent at first, still focused on the terrain outside the window. He frowned, as if trying to make an excuse.

"I have premonitions." Hugo said quietly. Constantine glanced at him again. She had heard of many psychics, so she wasn't surprised. But something in his tone made her concerned. He didn't sound happy. "A lot are about you." Hugo continued as they pulled into a small cemetery.

The two exited the car wordlessly, Constantine watching Hugo warily. She couldn't understand why he would see visions about her. She really wasn't all that important. She looked over the top of her car.

"So you're a psychic or something?" Constantine asked. Hugo met her gaze from over the car's roof. He narrowed his eyes at her in thought.

"Or something." He agreed. Constantine nodded, heading to the trunk of the car. Hugo followed her lead and met her at the rear.

"So what about calling Zach a creature of hell?" Constantine asked as she opened the trunk and began to search for shovels, salt, and gasoline. "I've done all the test on him, he's nothing I've ever seen before." She continued, pulling out a shovel and handing it to Hugo. Hugo took it with a shrug.

"I just always assumed he was a demon turned good. It was the only thing I could figure since he was running from his family and all. Some demons have a tendency to refer to each other as a family. The prince of hell Azazel was known for that." Hugo admitted as Constantine closed the trunk, having found everything she needed. She raised an eyebrow at the young boy.

"Weird that you know that. But, no. He gave me a weird blade that's the only thing that can kill him and his kind. And even more, I've seen him walk right out of an enochian devil's trap. Not something any demon can do." Constantine explained walking into the cemetery, skimming the graves for the name 'Isabella Lewis'.

From across the cemetery Hugo whistled to gain her attention. He stood by a rotting wooden cross that didn't look like it had ever had a name on it. His shovel was dug into the ground as he leaned on it. Constantine walked over to him calmly.

"No name. No one wanted to remember her." Hugo explained. Constantine nodded in understanding, dropping the salt and gasoline beside her. "So you haven't tried using the blade on him?" Hugo asked.

"Haven't needed to. He's been behaving himself pretty well." Constantine replied as she sunk her shovel into the dirt. Hugo nodded slowly, before beginning to dig with her.

After digging the grave up and finding the rotting corpse hidden under the ground Constantine threw her shovel off to the side and hauled herself out of the hole. She turned to Hugo and pulled him up out of the hole. Constantine handed the salt to Hugo then unscrewed the top off the gasoline. While she doused the grave in gasoline, Hugo poured salt over the body. Once that task was complete Constantine offer a pack of matches to Hugo. Hugo took them with a half hearted grin. He lit the matches and dropped them into the grave. Within seconds the grave was engulfed in flames.

As the flames subsided Constantine placed a hand on Hugo's shoulder. Much to her surprise he didn't immediately shrug it off.

"Let's get this covered up. I'm sure Zach has your sister." Constantine said. Hugo nodded, not really paying attention. His eyes had almost glazed over. It worried Constantine, but she didn't say anything more.

When Hugo and Constantine returned to the motel they found Zach with the dark haired girl from the diner. Zach was sitting on the bed with his head between his hands, his palms covering his ears. The girl was leaned against the kitchenettes counter with her arms crossed and was glaring daggers at Zach.

Hugo quickly crossed the room to his sister. Constantine heard the breathless whisper of 'Haven' as Hugo hugged the girl tightly. Zach looked up at Constantine thankfully.

"Thank the devil you're back. That girl will not stop talking." Zach said standing up. The girl shot him another glare. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped with a look from her brother. Constantine laughed and shook her head.

"Go take a breather then. I'll handle the kids." Constantine said. Zach nodded and disappeared into thin air. The dark haired girl, Haven Constantine assumed, gasped in shock. Constantine turned to the siblings and was met with a cold glare from Haven.

"What sort of hunter works with a demon?" Haven demanded. Constantine took note of the fact behind Haven's glasses her eyes were the same whiskey gold as her brothers.

"As I already explained to your brother. He's not a demon. He passes every test I could think of subjecting him to. Even seen him walk out of devil's traps." Constantine explained leaning against the table. Haven narrowed her eyes and turned to Hugo.

"But you said-" She began. Hugo rolled his eyes and cut her off.

"I was wrong Haven, it happens sometimes." He said annoyed. Haven pouted at him but nodded.

"Alright, who exactly are you kids?" Constantine asked. She crossed her arms and looked at them with a wary gaze. She felt like she should know them. There was something about them that seemed very familiar. Hugo looked up at her. Constantine frowned at him. "How much do you know about me anyway?" She asked suddenly.

"You're Tempest Constantine. The blonde guy was Zach, but I'm pretty sure that's not his real name. You're a hunter and have been your entire life. You started hunting on your own roughly a year ago after you ran away from your foster home. You're about 15, a few more months until your birthday I think. A vampire killed your parents and you have a younger brother. Your parents were Elizabeth and John Constantine." Hugo listed off calmly, like this was normal information for complete strangers to know. He was searching through his sister's bag for something. He pulled out a sketch pad and flipped it open. He turned it to Constantine, letting her see the drawing. To her surprise it was of her holding a pack of matches out to Hugo like she had earlier that day.

"Ok, creepy you know that much. Who are you two exactly?" Constantine asked concerned. Hugo pulled back the sketch pad with a frown.

"I'm Hugo Van Helsing. She's my twin sister Haven." Hugo said. Constantine wasn't surprised to find out they were twins. It made sense in a weird way. Hugo glanced up at her and grinned at her slyly. "And the guy right behind you is Dumah." He added. Constantine frowned.

"What do you mean, there's no one-" Constantine began looking over her shoulder. Much to her surprise there was someone behind her.

It was a young teenage boy not much taller than Constantine. He had dark brown hair that was falling into his equally dark eyes. He was fairly thin and willowy. His skin was oddly pale as well, like he hadn't seen sunlight in many years. He wore a black shirt with a hoodie than a leather jacket and dark jeans. At the hollow of his throat was the beginning of a tattoo.

Constantine blinked in surprise before turning back to the twins. Hugo was still smirking while Haven looked to be holding back a laugh.

"How did he get in here?" Constantine asked. The dark haired teenager that was apparently known as Dumah crossed the room to where the twins stood. He didn't make a sound as he moved, which unnerved Constantine. No one was that quiet. He looked over the twins worriedly, but didn't say a word.

"Flew I suppose." Hugo said calmly. He put a hand up and touched his thumb to his chest. Dumah nodded slowly but still looked worried.

"Flew?" Constantine asked. She looked at Dumah in confusion. He didn't look to be hiding wings under his jacket. But it wouldn't have surprised Constantine at this point.

"I wasn't joking when I said my guardian angel was on vacation." Hugo said simply. Constantine looked away from Dumah back to Hugo. When Hugo didn't further explain she looked back to Dumah. Dumah watched her with curious eyes.

"An angel?" Constantine asked in disbelief.

"Of the lord." Haven confirmed. Dumah smirked a little at Haven's words, almost rolling his eyes. Constantine let out a heavy sigh and ran her hand through her hair.

"That's it. I've seen everything." Constantine decided. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. It just seemed so unreal to her. Actual angels? If they were real, they definitely didn't just hang around on earth. "Next you're going to tell me the devil is real and God actually gives a damn."

Dumah began making a series of gestures that Constantine didn't understand. Haven watched him and nodded before turning to Constantine.

"Dumah says the devil is real, but no promises about the God thing." Haven said. Constantine blinked in surprise, trying to process what had been said. Things were getting extremely crazy extremely quickly.

"Nope." Constantine decided with an audible pop. She moved away from the table and dropped onto the motel bed. Haven moved over to the table after Constantine had walked away. She flipped through the things scattered across the table. Notes from cases, various fast food wrappers, and Constantine's mother's journal. Haven picked up the notebook and ran her fingers over the leather.

"E.V.H.?" Haven asked softly, looking up to Constantine. Constantine didn't look up at her, she didn't need to. There was only one thing that had those initials.

"Elizabeth Van Helsing." Constantine said calmly. "That was my mother's journal. I think she got it from one of her siblings when she still had that name." She explained. She vaguely remembered stories about that from her mother, but she couldn't remember exactly which sibling it had been. Her mother had seemed to remember all of them quite fondly.

"She was a Van Helsing?" Haven asked in shock. Her voice seemed a little softer than what it usually was. Constantine nodded slowly. Haven and Hugo were Van Helsing's too. That meant they were family, however distant. Constantine frowned trying to remember any of her family tree. None of it was coming back to her.

"Yeah." Constantine said. "Guess that makes us family, somehow."

"I guess." Haven agreed, looking back down at the journal. She opened it and began to flip through it.

The first thing she saw was a picture of four people that had to be siblings based on how much they looked like each other. They were sitting together on a picnic table. Two on the actual table with two on the seats. The two on the table looked to be the oldest. One was a girl with dark hair that reached to about her shoulders in loose curls. Her eyes looked to be a dark color, the photograph wasn't the best to tell. She had her arm looped around the shoulder of the boy next to her. He had dark hair like hers and eyes that though hazel looked darker than they should have been. Both were smiling, the girl laughing while the boy was only grinning.

On the seats on either side of their feet were a boy and girl. The boy had dark hair like all the rest of his siblings. His eyes were the clearest in the picture, a bright sea glass blue. He was nudging across the older two's legs to the last sibling. A girl, much younger than the rest, looking up startled from a book. She had long dark hair pulled up into a ponytail and glasses resting on the tip of her nose. Her eyes seemed to be a similar color to the boy beside her. While the others were teenagers of some age, she was six or seven from her looks.

Haven smiled at the picture and motioned for her brother to come over. He did and looked at the picture a smile formed on his face as he looked up at his sister. He placed his thumb against his chin with his hand open. Haven nodded in agreement. Dumah looked at them curiously. Haven turned the picture to him and pointed at the little girl looking up from her book. Haven repeated the action her brother had done. Dumah titled his head to the side and smiled.

Just then the door opened and Zach came in, looking surprisingly panicked. Constantine sat up quickly. Using doors was not Zach's area of expertise, if he was using one now that couldn't be good.

"Constantine start putting up the warding, fast." Zach said, sounding a little breathless. That was another not so good sign. He wasn't usually capable of losing his breath. Constantine got up quickly, picking a marker up off the bedside table. She began writing on the walls in a strange scrawling pattern that she assumed only Zach understood. Zach was on the other side of the room putting up the same markings. Haven and Hugo looked at each other in confusion, while Dumah only watched in interest.

"Why are these going up?" Constantine asked as she finished, capping the marker. She turned to see Zach sitting on the edge of one of the beds. He looked near exhausted, but that was common when warding was up.

"My sister is here. Rebecca." Zach explained, rubbing his temple. He was looking down, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Constantine expected he was shielding his eyes as to prevent anyone to seeing if he was close to tears. Constantine suspected he was, as he usually did get tearful when his family was mentioned. There was some huge fight that had torn them apart, and Zach was on the minority side.

"So these work on whatever you are?" Hugo asked, walking up to one of the marks on the wall. He traced his hand over it as he waited for an answer. He was probably trying to learn it for later use if needed.

"Wouldn't that hurt you?" Haven asked, before Zach could answer Hugo. Zach nodded slowly, raising his gaze just a little.

"My powers are weakened due to the warding. But that doesn't mat-" Zach cut off mid sentence when his gaze landed on Dumah. Zach's hand dropped down to the space between the mattress and the bed frame. It was the place Constantine knew the silver blade was hidden.

Tension quickly filled the air from the two staring each other down. Zach's crystal blue eyes met Dumah's dark eyes with a mix of pleading and threatening. It was a strange mix, but somehow he conveyed the message. Dumah smiled softly and put his hands up in a gesture that seemed to mean he meant Zach no harm. Zach relaxed slightly, bringing his hand up slowly.

"I hide from Rebecca only to come face to face with Dumah." Zach said softly, his voice hardly above a whisper. He gave a sarcastic laugh, shaking his head. Dumah replied by making a series of gestures that Constantine realized must have been sign language. A strange thing for an angel to know.

"He says he doesn't mean you any harm. He forgives you." Hugo translated. He was looking at Zach with suspicion now. Zach glanced at Hugo before returning his gaze to Dumah. He smirked softly.

"Never were much for that argument. Not really a fighter at all." Zach said softly. Dumah smiled and nodded before making another series of gestures. Constantine was impressed at the speed he could form the gestures, even more impressed that Hugo could keep up.

"He says it's nice to see you too, brother?" Hugo said, though it sounded more like a question. Maybe he couldn't keep up as well as Constantine thought he could.

"Good not nice." Haven corrected. She turned to Zach after correcting her brother. "Brother?" Haven demanded of the blonde. Constantine didn't understand the problem with that until she remembered. Dumah was an angel.

"You're a fricken angel!" Constantine asked turning on Zach quickly. Zach shrugged sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in nervousness.

"Technically." Zach agreed. He wasn't meeting Haven or Constantine's eyes, instead looking at a blank patch of wall. Constantine looked at Haven in concern. She was surprised to see Haven looking at her with the same look.

"Technically?" Haven asked turning back to Zach slowly. Zach shrugged again. "Then explain the 'thank the devil' thing. You're not that serious about not saying God's name in vain are you?" Haven asked in a joking manner. Zach laughed in response. Something about that somehow amused him. Constantine wasn't sure how.

"No. I'm just not going to thank that pathetic excuse of a father for anything." Zach explained bitterly. He was smiling, though he looked more likely to commit arson than Constantine was used to. He received several looks ranging in degree of concern. Zach rolled his eyes. "I'm technically an angel like the devil is technically an angel. Heaven and I aren't on good terms." he explained.

Constantine frowned, thinking of the things he had told her. He was in a fight with the rest of Heaven and was on the minority side. That probably meant the losing side. What would Heaven be fighting about though? Constantine's eyes suddenly widened in horror.

"I'm consorting with Satan." Constantine said in shock. She heard Haven stifle a laugh but ignored it. Zach rolled his eyes yet again.

"His name is Lucifer, and I'm not him." Zach said calmly, making it appear this was a common accusation he dealt with.

"Right, totally believable." Constantine said with a laugh. It was a harsh laugh. One she forced to try and remain calm. It wasn't working as well as she planned. She turned her attention away from Zach, focusing on what she could deal with. "How long are you planning on staying?" Constantine asked, looking to the twins.

"Awhile. Figure we should probably stick with you." Hugo said calmly, putting his hands behind his head. Haven nodded in agreement, turning her attention back to Constantine's mother's journal.

"Why?" Constantine asked. She didn't really mind the idea, but it seemed strange for kids she just met to decide to stick with her.

"If you hadn't noticed, we're eleven." Hugo said bluntly. Constantine nodded in admittance. She sighed heavily walking over to the bed Zach was sitting on. Constantine kicked Zach playfully.

"Move it feathers, you're on my bed." Constantine said. Zach gave an indignant huff and got up, walking over to Dumah. Constantine glanced at the twins.

"You two can share the other bed. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning." Constantine said. The twins nodded calmly. Constantine plopped onto the bed and curled up on her side. She was silent and still almost right away. Hugo seemed to assume that meant she was asleep.

"So it begins." Hugo whispered. Constantine didn't know why, but the young boy's words seemed ominous.


	5. Bell Flower

**Bell Flower**

"Are we there yet?" Haven complained from the backseat, again. Constantine frowned from her place in the driver's seat. She allowed her eyes to flick upward towards the rear view mirror. She saw Haven sprawled out across the back seat, like she had been almost every time Constantine looked up.

"Does it look like she's slowing down?" Hugo asked sarcastically from the passenger seat. He was drawing in a sketch pad that he had carefully balanced on his lap. His feet were propped up on the dash, though Constantine had repeatedly told him to get his feet down. She swore up and down that between the two of them she was going to get pulled over.

"We've been driving for hours! Where are we even going?" Haven complained dramatically. Constantine glanced to her clock. They had been on the road for a couple hours, though Constantine wasn't exactly sure about the number. Haven had become bored pretty much instantly, while Hugo had occupied himself with drawing. It amazed Constantine that he could keep his hand steady enough to draw in a moving vehicle.

"Will you sit up, you're going to get me pulled over." Constantine ordered, ignoring Haven's complaint. She glared at Hugo who seemed to get the message and dropped his feet from the dash. Constantine guessed it would be a half hour until she had to tell him again. In the backseat Haven reluctantly sat up. Hugo turned around and showed Haven the drawing he had been working on.

"That's where we're going." Hugo stated simply. Constantine glanced at him but didn't ask. He was usually right about these things. Haven studied the drawing with a frown.

"I don't get it." Haven stated. Hugo gave an exasperated sigh and pulled the sketch book back to himself. Constantine caught sight of the drawing, which was in fact exactly where they were going. It was drawn in near perfect detail, down to the rust on the cars that filled the front yard. Constantine was impressed by Hugo's capabilities once again.

"It's the house of Bobby Singer, he's a guide for hunters. Old family friend of Constantine's." Hugo explained calmly. He leaned back in the seat, bringing his knees to his chest, his arms wrapping around them.

"Your psychic thing is starting to freak me out a little." Constantine said, casting Hugo a nervous glance. What else did he know about what was to come? How far ahead could he see?

"Not like I can help it." Hugo said blandly, looking away from Constantine. Constantine frowned. She knew that meant he didn't want to talk about it, and she understood why. It didn't seem to be a pleasant experience. His visions were usually accompanied by a splitting headache and a great need to nap. In Hugo's own words, 'with great power comes great need to take a nap.' She wouldn't ask for that sort of ability.

"Why are we going to this Bobby's?" Haven asked.

"It's about time you guys met him." Constantine said. "And I'm low on cash and need a place to stay. He won't turn us away." She added as an afterthought. Haven nodded, flopping back onto her side.

"The angels going to meet us there?" Haven asked.

"Yes." Constantine answered. "Sit up." She ordered. Haven groaned dragging herself back into a sitting position. Her golden eyes narrowed at Constantine in a threatening matter.

"I'm going to drop you in a wormhole." Haven threatened. Constantine rolled her eyes and laughed the threat off. Haven tended to use threats that Constantine never dared dream of. They ranged from trapping Constantine in a tv show to feeding her to a sewer gator. There were stranger things thrown in the mix, but Constantine's personal favorite was the alien abduction.

Constantine had learned not to question her two cousins. They had grown up in a rather strange way. Their mother had died when the first one of them was born, but they didn't know which one was the elder. Their father was a topic that didn't get brought up almost ever, but when he did he was credited for the twins strange behavior. They hadn't mentioned when they met Dumah, or why the angel was guarding them. There was a lot more questions than answers at this point.

"Then you'll be stuck, out of money, and out of an extra resource in your quest." Constantine said calmly. That was one answer, the twins were looking for something. The question to go along with that of course was what were they looking for. The twins had yet to tell Constantine. "Now, if I have to tell you to sit up one more time I'll pull over and find the longest way to Bobby's I can." She threatened. Haven pouted, but didn't argue.

It wasn't long until Constantine pulled into the familiar salvage yard that belonged to Bobby Singer. She had a lot of fond memories of being left here while her parents were out hunting. Some of her favorite included a young man who was practically Bobby's son. He was a Winchester really, but every time Constantine thought of him it was as Bobby's son. He had been a lot of fun when she was younger. Bobby had been a lot of fun too, let her do normal kid things instead of babysit her brother or train to hunt. That was the only experience Constantine had with anything vaguely normal.

Constantine parked in front of the house where she remembered her father always parked. Not surprisingly Zach and Dumah were sitting on some of the broken cars. They looked like they had been waiting for a while, but Constantine doubted it. If Bobby had seen them he would have shot them for trespassing. He didn't take to strangers well.

By the time Constantine was out of the car Haven was already halfway to Zach and Dumah. Hugo was shaking his head as he exited the car, closing his door just after Constantine closed hers.

"One of you needs to teach me to fly!" Haven declared loudly to the angels. The pair looked at each other before looking back to Haven.

"Grow a set of wings first." Zach said calmly. Haven crossed her arms in challenge. She eyed the angels for a second, looking over their shoulders. Constantine realized she was looking for angel wings.

"But you don't have wings." Haven pointed out. Dumah made a series of gestures that Constantine tried to keep up with. She frowned watching. She only caught a few gestures that she knew. _Yes, you,_ and _see_.

"Yes we do. You just can't see them." Hugo said softly under his breath. Constantine nodded and shot Hugo a grateful look. The twins had been trying to teach Constantine sign language, but only so much could be accomplished in a month. Especially when they were hunting for a majority of that time.

"Alright you three, let's go." Constantine called. "If we don't announce ourselves Bobby might shoot us." She said, turning to the door. She walked up to the front door calmly, only glancing around once or twice. She considered just walking in, but there was a chance he was holding a gun and Constantine didn't want to deal with a bullet wound. She knocked loudly instead, insuring Bobby could hear her wherever he was in the house.

The door opened soon after and Constantine was greeted by the barrel of a gun. She stepped back in surprise bumping into whichever of her group stood behind her. She felt heat rush across her skin as a hand was placed on her shoulder to steady her.

"Whoa, just me!" Constantine said, putting her hands up in defense. She looked at the man in the doorway warily. He was just a bit taller than Constantine, but enough that it was apparent. He had reddish brown hair hidden under a baseball cap. He had a beard that he had always had to Constantine's knowledge.

"Dammit kid, how many times do I have to tell you to call before you show up at my door?" Bobby complained. He lowered his gun and looked over the group gathered at his door. Constantine supposed it was a strange group. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the group.

Standing directly behind her was Zach. His hand was still resting on Constantine's shoulder in a protective manner. To her left was Dumah who appeared to be looking off into the distance. His hands were in his pockets as he gazed off to the sky. To her right the twins stood close together, almost to the point they were touching. Constantine took note of the fact it was suddenly noticeable how much taller than Haven Hugo was. A good few inches at least.

"Who the hell are these people?" Bobby asked, surveying the group. His eyes fell on Zach most suspiciously. Constantine couldn't guess why, he seemed the least suspicious to her.

"My hunting partners. I'll introduce you if you let us in." Constantine said. Bobby looked around at the group again, eyeing each one in turn. He eventually stepped back with a shake of his head, allowing the group entrance to his home. Constantine shot him a quick smile before leading her group into the house taking them straight to the study.

Constantine had always found Bobby's study to be comforting. It was one of her favorite places in the entire world. She always felt safe and relaxed in the study, crammed with familiar books and papers. Alcohol of various sorts was scattered throughout the room too. Whiskey mostly but she was pretty sure there were a few other varieties. Bobby had been the first to allow her to try alcohol, she couldn't remember how old she had been, but she remembered him warning her not to make a habit of it. The thought brought a smile to her face yet again.

Bobby sat himself on the front edge of his desk, looking out over the room. Haven and Hugo were seated on the edge of the couch nearly touching. They were looking around cautiously, looking ready to bolt at a second's notice. Dumah was studying a bookcase by the door into the front hallway. He would look over his shoulder every so often to check that Haven and Hugo were still there. He looked oddly relaxed in the room. Zach had positioned himself next to the door to the kitchen, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Constantine stood on the other side of the door.

"Alright, who have you dragged into this life?" Bobby asked. He looked to Haven and Hugo most warily, probably because of their young age. Constantine could understand that, Haven and Hugo were definitely not what she expected out of hunters. They had started out on their own when they were eleven.

"I didn't drag anyone in." Constantine said simply. "They all were already a part of it somehow." Bobby nodded looking back to the four strangers in his study. Constantine sighed heavily before beginning the introductions. "The blonde is the guy I've told you about. His name is Zach, we think." Zach shot Constantine an unamused look. She ignored him and continued on. "The silent one going through your bookshelf is Dumah. And those two," She pointed to the twins. "Are Haven and Hugo Van Helsing." Bobby looked to the twins in shock. He narrowed his eyes at them in thought. He looked almost suspicious of them, which Constantine couldn't understand. They didn't seem too strange from a glance.

"You ain't Toby's kids." Bobby decided. Haven and Hugo both nodded like that was obvious. "So who's are you?" He asked. Haven and Hugo exchanged a glance before returning a nervous gaze to Bobby.

"You don't, already know?" Haven asked watching Bobby nervously. Dumah had turned around and was giving the twins his full attention now. Constantine was willing to bet he would literally kill Bobby if things went downhill.

"Both Nicole and Jacob dropped off the map. You two could be either one of theirs." Bobby said simply. Haven and Hugo looked at each other once again. They turned back to Bobby slowly.

"We're Nicole's." Hugo said. His voice was so soft that Constantine hardly heard him. It had been rare for the twins to speak of their father. But this was the first time they had ever mentioned their mother, besides explaining she was dead. From the sound of Hugo's voice, it wasn't a pleasant topic for them.

Bobby's eyes widened at Hugo's words. He reached behind him going for his handgun. Dumah frowned and with a flick of his wrist moved the gun out of Bobby's reach. Constantine herself shifted her weight so if necessary she could defend the twins. Zach made a similar movement but seemed to be more intent on attacking Bobby.

"You Idjit." Bobby said, quickly glancing at Constantine before looking back to the twins. He was still reaching for his gun, though he wouldn't be able to grab hold of it. Constantine looked at him in confusion. She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything worthy of being called an idjit.

"What did I do?" Constantine asked.

"Nicole ran off with a monster. That means-" Bobby began. Before he could elaborate what that meant Haven let out a groan.

"Not this crap again!" She complained loudly. Hugo shot her a glare but didn't say anything. Constantine took advantage of the sudden pause in accusations to figure out what was going on.

"Will you all stop for just one second and explain to me what the problem is?" Constantine demanded. Bobby almost glared at her but stopped short. He let out a sigh of exasperation and rubbed his forehead.

"The last time anyone saw Nicole she was with a Trickster." Bobby explained simply. Constantine looked at him blankly, waiting for him to continue. "Elizabeth and her got in a huge fight over it, then Nicole just vanished. Last person to see her alive was Toby, if I'm right." Bobby continued. Constantine frowned.

"What the hell is a Trickster?" She asked. She could remember her mother had mentioned a Trickster several times. The same Trickster if Constantine recalled correctly. But her mother had never really explained what they were. Now that she thought about it, her Aunt Nicole had been mentioned almost every time a Trickster had been.

"They're demigod like creatures that create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing. Specialize in knocking the high and mighty down a peg." Bobby explained, catching Constantine's attention. "They're all over different mythologies. Loki, Anansi, dozens of them."

"Right, so you think these two are-" Constantine trailed off, unsure of what Bobby was insinuating. So their mother had been with a Trickster, was he assuming the Trickster was their father?

"Half-Trickster." Hugo confirmed simply. He was looking at Bobby rather calmly. "We only have a few tricks up our sleeves. Not all of them." He said.

"But we're just as human as we are Trickster." Haven said. She was looking at Bobby hopefully. Her golden eyes were wide and pleading. It was like she was trying to cute her way out of the situation.

Bobby looked at the twins before sighing and shaking his head. He didn't look at them as he came to his conclusion.

"I better not regret this." Bobby said. He turned his attention back to Constantine. "I'm guessing you're not just here to drop in." He said. Constantine nodded in agreement.

"Nope, need a place to crash until I get a new credit card." She said. Bobby shook his head holding off a grin.

"Fine, I'm heading out on a hunt. You can man the phones while I'm gone." Bobby said. Constantine sighed but nodded in agreement.

Bobby left for his hunting trip a few hours later. He assigned Constantine a few other tasks to complete while she was staying at the house. He had allowed the twins the right to explore the place a little so Constantine was on her own when he gave his orders. It wasn't much. She just had to do research on crossroads deals, for some strange reason. And do whatever research other hunters called in. It wasn't anything new to Constantine so she didn't argue.

"So, what are you two looking for?" Constantine asked. She sat at Bobby's desk flipping through a book about demons, hoping something about crossroads deals. Haven was sprawled out across the floor flipping through another book similar to Constantine's. She didn't look like she was really interested. Hugo sat on the couch drawing, not being at all helpful.

"A trickster." Hugo replied, pausing to shift the position of his sketch pad. "Our father." He added as he returned to his work. Constantine looked up from the book curiously.

"Why?" She asked. Haven looked up from her book, considering how to answer. Hugo made no move, so it seemed he wasn't going to answer this one.

"He left when we were eight. We want to know why." Haven explained, returning her gaze to the book. She turned the page idly, probably not understanding a word that was written on the pages.

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" Constantine asked. She stopped reading to look between the twins. She wasn't surprised really. She did a quick read up on tricksters, and it made a lot of sense. It explained where Haven came up with her bizzare threats, and where Hugo got his hatred of arrogant people. Even with just half of the trickster powers, the twins were much stronger than anything Constantine had ever seen.

"Well, you saw Bobby's reaction. We thought you might think the same way." Hugo said calmly. He managed to keep his focus on his art, despite the conversation that should have been taking his attention. From this behavior Constantine guessed it was one of his visions. He only focused so much if he was trying to forget the visions.

"Granted." Constantine said, leaning back in her chair. She watched Hugo draw for a moment. "So, the trickster blood. Is that why you have premonitions?"

"No, I'm a prophet." Hugo said calmly. Constantine blinked in surprise. She wasn't sure she had heard him properly. A prophet was a crazy stretch. Even crazier than angels. It meant God was actually watching. Maybe.

"A prophet. Like the guys who wrote the bible prophet?" Constantine asked, her voice filled with disbelief. Hugo nodded, still not looking up from his artwork.

"Protected by an archangel and all." He said off handedly.

"An, archangel." Constantine repeated.

"Prophet's are always protected by an archangel. Usually Raphael, since Gabriel is MIA and Michael likes to think he's too important because he runs heaven." Constantine jumped in surprise, glaring at the blonde angel who had randomly appeared in the middle of the room. Hugo glanced up at the angel calmly, hardly moving. Haven looked up in surprise.

"Hey Zach." Haven greeted calmly.

"Hey guys." Zach greeted.

"Wait, did you know about this whole prophet thing?" Constantine asked. Zach nodded, crossing to the desk and skimming over the book she was reading.

"The names of the prophets are engraved in every angels eyelids." Zach said. "Anyway, you guys find anything?" He asked. Constantine shook her head.

"Nothing about what Bobby wanted." Constantine answered. She sighed heavily, laying her head across the book in front of her. Zach ran a hand through her hair, moving it out of the way so he could continue reading the page.

"What do you mean Gabriel is MIA?" Haven asked, looking at Zach. Zach glanced at her and shrugged.

"He skipped out of heaven and is hiding somewhere on earth. He hated watching Lucifer and Michael fight." Zach said. From the tone of his voice Constantine guessed he related to his elder brother. Constantine didn't imagine it was fun watching siblings tear each other apart. It sounded like the worst torture there was.

"What about Michael running heaven? Isn't that God's job?" Haven asked from the ground. Zach turned towards her calmly. He appeared to be thinking on how to answer. Constantine looked up, brushing her hair back from her face.

"Daddy dearest has been MIA almost as long as Gabriel has been." Zach replied, bitterness sneaking into his voice. Constantine frowned. "He ditched after making Michael cast Lucifer into the cage, so I've heard." He continued.

"You don't know?" Haven asked. Zach shook his head.

"I had already fallen. It's a bit harder to come by news when you're trying to avoid angel radio." Zach explained. He looked away from Haven to the desk where Constantine sat. She noticed his eyes darken with pain. Constantine wondered if he was remembering something horrid. His hand rested on the desk, and Constantine put her hand over his in comfort. Surprisingly he took hold of it without much of a thought.

"If you're a fallen angel, where are you constantly vanishing off to?" Haven asked, propping herself up on her elbows. Zach glanced at her in thought.

"Hell." He said calmly. Constantine couldn't fake surprise. It made sense that a fallen angel ended up in hell.

"What do you do there?" Haven asked. Zach looked away, rubbing the back of his head nervously. He moved away from the desk, removing his hand from Constantine's.

"I run the place, for the most part." Zach said. Constantine sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You're sounding more and more like Satan everytime we learn something about you." Constantine said softly. Zach turned to her calmly. He looked at her for a moment frowning.

"I'm not Lucifer." He said. Constantine looked up at him in exasperation.

"Then who are you?" Constantine asked. She kept her voice calm. She trusted Zach, whoever he was. But it would be nice to know exactly who she was dealing with. Especially when he admitted to running Hell.

"Zachriel, the angel of memories." Zach replied calmly. Haven stood from her place on the floor. She went to a bookshelf and began to search for a book. Constantine didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she guessed it was important.

"Why did you fall?" Constantine asked. Zach sighed heavily and looked towards the window Hugo sat in front of. Hugo seemed to have tuned out the entire conversation, focusing instead on his drawing.

"I was the angel of memories for a reason. I was the first seraphim to be created after the archangels. I'm the oldest angel in that sense." Zach began. Constantine supposed there was a reason for his story, so she didn't interrupt. "I watched all my brothers and sisters be born. And I made sure I knew all of their names. Castiel and Uriel, Anael and Samadriel, Hael and Metatron. Naomi and Gadreel, Balthazar and Zachariah, Hannah and Akobel, Joshua and Ishim, Jofiel, Rebecca, Rachel, and Constantine." He paused looking to Constantine. She frowned. Her name was the same as an angels. Ironic. "Even more than them, but I tried so hard not to forget any of them. I watched what they did and made sure any great they did was remembered. And when God told us to bow to humans, I wouldn't. I couldn't see my siblings bow to creatures so inferior." Zach finished.

Constantine blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected such a story. It was strange, and didn't make much sense. One act of defiance and he was cast from heaven. Humans did that all the time and they were still let in. Usually. She wasn't even sure they really had to believe in God to get in.

"I don't know about his story, but his name is here. Same title too." Haven said from the bookshelf. She held an open book that looked almost as old as Zach had to be. Constantine nodded, looking back to Zach.

"So you fell after Lucifer?" Constantine asked. Zach chuckled and shook his head.

"No, I fell with him." Zach replied. Constantine blinked in confusion. "Of all my siblings, I loved Lucifer most. When he told me he wanted to rebel, I gladly agreed. And for that I was cast out." He explained. Constantine was surprised. With the way he was talking he hated humans. Yet he was with them, and seemed to enjoy their company. She remembered what he had said the first time she had met him. Humans had grown on him since Adam and Eve.

Constantine sighed heavily and returned to her book.

"Do you have any other secrets you care to share?" She asked. Zach shook his head.

"No. The rest really don't affect you." He said softly. Constantine had a feeling that meant he was lying, but she didn't think she could force a being many times stronger than herself to talk if he didn't want to.

"Alright." She said simply. "Just let us know if that changes." She said softly. Zach nodded in agreement but didn't speak. And Constantine didn't expect him too.

Several days later Bobby returned from his hunt. He walked through the study to find the three children sleeping beside each other. Hugo was curled up under Constantine's arm, with Haven using his shoulder as a pillow. Constantine was leaning back against the couch with a book opened in her lap. Bobby could only guess that meant she hadn't found much and was desperate to come up with something. Or she had been having nightmares again and was trying to avoid sleeping at all cost.

Bobby shook his head as he crossed through the room. He went into the kitchen to retrieve a beer. Constantine jumped awake when she heard the fridge door shut. She looked down at the twins and smiled at them. She stood slowly, careful not to disturb the twins and went to the kitchen.

"Good hunt?" Constantine asked Bobby as he took a swig from his beer.

"Easier than I thought." Bobby replied. "What about you kids? Any luck?" He asked.

"It was a weird topic, and your books had nothing. But Zach knows everything so we got something out of him." Constantine answered calmly. Bobby nodded looking at Constantine in interest.

"You ever find out what he is?" Bobby asked. Constantine laughed nervously.

"Yeah, and you won't believe it." Constantine said. Bobby gave her an unbelieving look that made her laugh. She knew he had seen a lot, but she also knew angels weren't something anyone saw. Angels didn't appear on earth often, not in centuries.

"Kid, I've seen damn near everything. I doubt you can surprise me." Bobby said. Constantine smirked at him in challenge.

"He's an angel, of the fallen variety." Constantine said. Bobby froze and stared at her in disbelief. Constantine smiled at him calmly. Bobby looked away and shook his head.

"Angel?" Bobby asked, looking back to Constantine. Constantine nodded. "Are you sure?" He asked. Constantine nodded yet again.

"I did some research and found a few tricks. He's even shown me his wings." Constantine said. It had only really been a projection of his wings. Apparently if she saw his real wings her eyes might get burned out of her head. "Dumah's an angel too." She added.

"Balls." Bobby muttered in shock. "What have you gotten yourself into?" He asked. Constantine shrugged.

"Nothing as dangerous as this crossroads deal stuff." Constantine replied. "The only way to get out of the contract is to find the demon who holds the contract and convince them to hand it over. Zach says usually it would be this punk ass demon named Crowley, as he's the king of the crossroads, but for some reason someone took the one you're looking for from him." She explained, leaning on the counter. Bobby looked at her with a frown.

"How does Zach know which one I'm looking for?" Bobby asked. Constantine shrugged.

"Don't know. It's Zach, I'm sure he has his ways. Any who, he says you have to find Lilith, the first demon to ever be created. She has the contract." Constantine said. Bobby paled looking at her in shock.

"Damn it." Bobby muttered, looking away. Constantine smiled at him sympathetically.

"Sorry, whoever you're helping is in deep. Something's going on. Something big." Constantine said. "But if they can get this Lilith bitch, the deal gets called off."

"Thanks kid." Bobby said, though he sounded deflated.

Constantine did a quick check over her bag, making sure she had everything before leaving Bobby's. She had already said goodbye to Bobby, who was in the basement working on something. He had made her promise to call him if she got into too much trouble. Or Dean if she really needed to. But Constantine doubted she would call Dean. She hadn't seen him since her parents had died, and she wasn't sure what she'd say to him if she did call him.

Constantine decided she had everything and threw the duffle bag over her shoulder. She went out to her car where Haven and Hugo were already waiting. Hugo was leaning against the passenger side door. Haven was sitting on the trunk, kicking her legs back and forth with a smile.

Constantine made Haven jump off the trunk so she could throw the duffle bag into it. Haven skipped over to stand by her brother. She didn't know what they were waiting for. Usually they'd be in the car ready to go by now.

Constantine went to the drivers side door and opened it. She stopped seeing a brown package sitting on the seat. She picked up the package and looked over the roof of the car. Haven smiled at her innocently. Hugo glanced at her, fighting to keep a grin off his face. Under normal circumstances Constantine probably wouldn't have been overly cautious of the package. But she was dealing with two tricksters here.

"What is this?" Constantine asked. Haven's smile grew even more bright, if that was possible.

"It's a thank you." Haven said. Constantine raised an eyebrow at her.

"Just open it." Hugo said, turning to face Constantine. His grin was slowly growing. It worried Constantine.

She tore open the packaging slowly. It was wrapped with a brown paper bag and twine. Simple things Constantine guessed they had found lying around the house. It was rectangular, and Constantine guessed it was more than one object. As the wrapping fell away she saw a stack of five books.

"Supernatural?" Constantine asked, reading off the title. There were several other books with varying titles that really weren't that great. 'Wendigo', 'Phantom Traveler', 'Bloody Mary', and 'Skin'.

"We noticed all of your books were that sort of genre, surprisingly." Hugo said with a shrug. "So we thought we'd get you something new." He was looking away from Constantine now. Constantine smiled and laughed, shaking her head.

"It was all Hugo's idea, he's just being modest." Haven said, nudging her brother playfully. Constantine shook her head again.

"Thanks." She said with a smile. "Really, you didn't have to."

"We know, we wanted to." Hugo said. Constantine looked up from the book covers (which didn't look that great) to see Hugo smiling the first real smile she had ever seen grace his face. It seemed to light up the entire area around him, like a fresh patch of sunlight. "Happy birthday, by the way." Hugo said.

Constantine blinked in surprise. She hadn't really been paying attention to dates. From the snow on the ground around her she guessed it could be December. And it had been sometime since she had met the twins. Maybe she was finally 15.

"Wow, I forgot that was a thing." Constantine said, laughing nervously. "Let's hit the road." She said sliding into the driver's seat. Haven and Hugo followed her lead and slid into their own seats. "So, where to next?"


	6. White Poplar

**White Poplar**

Hugo was used to passing out in weird locations on hunts. He usually had a headache before hand so he knew it was coming. But that never stopped him from passing out in the middle of alleyways, motels, forests, or where ever else they happened to be. He once passed out in the middle of a fight with a ghoul. If Haven and Constantine hadn't been with him he would have died.

That never stopped him from getting annoyed with the timing of Gods visions. It was usually at some inopportune moment. Like when he was on a walk all alone with no identification and just his backpack. The perfect time to be picked up by complete strangers. Though fortunately these strangers didn't seem to be trying to kill him.

Hugo woke up on a crappy motel mattress that he was so used to he almost thought he was in the motel room Constantine had gotten them. But he knew he wasn't the moment he didn't feel any weight on the bed beside him. Haven always shared a bed with him, and sat beside him if he was having a vision. It was one of her protective instincts. His second clue was the two men sitting at the kitchenette. One was on a computer, while the other was looking through a journal. Hugo's backpack was on the table between the two. The one on the computer had dark brown hair that was longer than Hugo thought was advisable for a hunter. The other had close cropped light brown hair, but Hugo couldn't see anymore as his back was turned to him.

Hugo sat up slowly, hoping to avoid notice. Unfortunately the moment he moved the man with darker hair looked up. His hazel eyes met with Hugo's whiskey gold eyes.

"Dean." The hunter said. The other hunter looked up from the journal he was reading. The darker haired one nodded toward Hugo calmly. The hunter that was presumably Dean turned to look over his shoulder. Hugo met with his bright green eyes calmly.

"Well, about time you woke up sleeping beauty." Dean said sarcastically. Hugo looked at him for a moment before standing up with an eye roll. He crossed the room to the table the two were sitting at. He opened his bag searching through it. He pulled out his sketch pad, setting it on the table beside the darker haired hunter. He proceeded to find a set of pencils and a handgun that he only carried at insistence of Constantine. He didn't need a gun to defend himself. He searched for his phone as well, but he couldn't find it. He must have dropped it when he passed out.

Hugo returned to the bed, opening his sketchpad and beginning to draw his latest vision. The two men looked at him in surprise before exchanging a look.

"So, you're the quiet type." Dean said. Hugo ignored him. He focused on his drawing, trying to get the image out of his head. They would always plague his mind until he drew them. Or wrote them down, but he was a really bad writer so he avoided that. Dean sighed turning to the other man. "Alright Sam. He's not talking."

"I'm not finding anything about a missing kid anywhere. It's like he doesn't exist." Sam replied. He stood and crossed the room to where Hugo sat. He crouched down in front of Hugo, probably trying to not seem as large as he actually was. Hugo didn't look up at him. "Hey, I'm Sam. That's my brother Dean. What's your name?" Sam asked.

Hugo paused for a second, his pencil freezing mid stroke. He looked up at Sam with a thoughtful expression. He wasn't supposed to talk unless someone he knew was present. Just a rule he, Haven, and Dumah had come up with to keep anyone of them from saying too much. But he couldn't just not answer. That would be rude and despite most of his upbringing he was taught a few manners.

Hugo moved his pencil to the edge of the paper and wrote his name. He turned the page towards Sam. Sam read it and nodded.

"Hugo, are you from around here?" Sam asked. Hugo looked at him for a moment before returning his attention back to his drawing. Sam sighed heavily and looked to his brother. Dean stood and crossed the room. He sat on the corner of the bed across from Hugo.

"What are you drawing?" Dean asked. Hugo moved his hand away from the half formed picture. The vision had made little sense to him when he had first seen it. They usually didn't make sense until he finished drawing.

This drawing was of a rather pretty woman in a hotel room that was clearly expensive. There was an open safe in the corner of the room with an antique gun inside it. The woman was on the phone, her mouth quirked up in a smirk. Hugo supposed she was up to something.

"Son of a bitch." Dean muttered. He and Sam looked at each other in shock. Sam was the first to come out of his shock.

"Hugo, where did you see that?" Sam asked. Hugo only shrugged and returned to his drawing. He wanted to finish so he'd know what it meant. The brothers walked away from him, talking in low whispers.

"What the hell Sam?" Dean asked. He looked over his shoulder at Hugo. Dean usually was great with kids. But this kid was proving to be a challenge. Dean couldn't guess his age, he looked like he was ten or younger physically. But his eyes made him seem much older.

"I don't know." Sam answered, looking at Hugo in interest. "And I really can't know until he talks." Sam said. Dean frowned watching Hugo. He turned back to his brother.

"What if he can't?" Dean suggested. Sam frowned at his brother, glancing at Hugo again. Hugo was pretending he couldn't hear them, even though he was enjoying their conversation. It was amusing for Hugo. A fun trick.

"Then the pictures might be how he communicates. Or he has to write everything." Sam said calmly. Dean nodded in agreement, looking at Hugo once again. He wet hip lips before turning back to his brother.

"But why is he drawing Bela? And the colt?" Dean asked. Sam shrugged.

"I don't know. But she just stole the colt, no one but us really knows it's gone." Sam said. Dean nodded slowly.

"We have to keep him with us." He said. Sam nodded.

"That I can agree with. Why don't you talk to him, you're great with kids." He said before returning to the kitchenette table. Dean sighed and rubbed the back of his head before walking over to Hugo.

"Listen kid, I'm sure you're not sure what to do with us. Two men you've never met before picking you up. But uh, we want to help you. Unless you can tell us where your family is, we're going to keep you with us." Dean said. Hugo ignored him, still drawing. He realized now he knew who the brothers were. They had been in several of his previous visions. He knew Dean had sold his soul and his time was running out. He knew they had killed the yellow eyed demon. He knew they were great hunters. "Is that ok with you?" Dean asked, startling Hugo out of his thoughts. He looked up at Dean and slowly nodded.

"Hey, I think I found a case." Sam said, catching Dean's attention.

Days later the Winchesters and Hugo were in Broward Florida.

Hugo woke up to the sound of an old classic rock song of some kind playing loudly on the radio. Hugo blinked as the songs volume seemed to increase. Hugo didn't know the song, but he was sure Constantine would have been able to, had she been there.

"Rise and shine Sammy!" Dean said loudly. He sounded uncharacteristically happy. Why Hugo couldn't guess. Hugo sat up from where he was on the floor. The boys had tried to get him to take one of the beds, but Hugo never minded sleeping on the floor. He fell asleep in pretty weird places as it was.

"Dude. Asia?" Sam asked as he sat up. Dean smirked at his brother.

"Come on, you love this song and you know it." Dean said matter of factly. Sam rolled his eyes, glancing to Hugo.

"Yeah, and if I ever hear it again I'm gonna kill myself." Sam said, trying to hold back his own grin. Dean leant over to the radio and turned it up louder.

"Sorry. What? I can't hear you." Dean said. He moved to the music in a dorky manner that Hugo was amused he would even consider doing. Dean was grinning as he pointed at Sam mouthing the words before pushing himself off the bed to go into the bathroom. Hugo chuckled a little to himself, earning a look from Sam.

Hugo had proven that he was probably capable of talking to the boys many times. He made exasperated sighs and could laugh like any person. Sam had never told Dean, but once he had heard Hugo curse late at night when waking up from one of his sudden naps. Sam had just assumed Hugo had a reason for not wanting to talk and didn't pressure him.

"Anything new?" Sam asked Hugo as he stood. Hugo shook his head in reply. Sam had figured out he was having premonitions, but Hugo didn't know if Dean knew yet. He didn't really want to know.

The boys went around the motel room preparing for the day. Hugo didn't take long himself, and spent most of his time watching the boys or staring out the window. He was surprised they seemed so light hearted with Dean's deadline drawing closer by the day.

Sam and Dean led the way into a diner. The moment they entered Hugo stopped. The air was different, almost filled with power. Sam stopped and looked at Hugo. Hugo shook it off before Sam could ask. But Hugo's eyes wandered over the diner occupants, not paying attention to people around him. There was a trickster in this diner.

"Hey. Tuesday. Pig 'n a poke." Dean said as they sat down. Hugo sat beside Sam, his eyes still wandering the diner.

"You even know what that is?" Sam asked with a smirk. Dean looked confused for a moment but brushed it off.

A waitress approached them with a name tag reading 'Doris'. Hugo looked for a pencil so he could write whatever it was he decided he wanted.

"You boys ready?" The waitress asked, looking at each member of the group.

"Yes," Dean answered with a smile. "I'll have the special, side of bacon and a coffee." He said calmly.

"Make it two coffees and a short stack." Sam said. Doris turned towards Hugo who wrote something down on Sam's napkin. Sam gave him a look, but Hugo only blinked at him innocently. Sam sighed heavily. "A strawberry cream cheese crepe and a chocolate scone with lemonade." Sam said. Doris raised an eyebrow in question, but wrote it down.

"You got it." She said, walking away to put in the order. Dean leaned forward the moment the woman had walked away. Hugo could only guess where the conversation was going to go.

"I'm telling you, Sam, this job is small fry. We should be spending our time hunting down Bela." Dean said. Hugo rolled his eyes, waiting for Sam's sarcastic reply.

"Okay, sure, let's get right on that. Where is she again?" Sam replied, challenging his elder brother. Dean huffed and leaned back in annoyance.

"Shut up." Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"Believe me, I want to find her as bad as you. In the meantime, we have this. " Sam said. He pulled out a stack of papers as he spoke. Dean looked at the papers skeptically, but gave into his younger brother taking one of the papers from the stack.

"Alright, so this professor." Dean began looking at the paper Sam had laid out. It read something about a professor going missing, having last been seen in the town they were in.

"Dexter Hasselback was passing through town last week when he vanished." Sam explained. Hugo frowned, only half listening. That seemed like an amutuer trick. Just a disappearance. Not enough to make the hunters scratch their heads, so definitely not worth the hassle.

"Last known location?" Dean asked, looking to his brother.

"His daughter says he was on his way to visit the Broward County Mystery Spot." Sam answered. Sam handed his brother a flyer. Dean looked it over skeptically.

"Where the laws of physics have no meaning?" Dean read off the flyer. Hugo could only guess it was some kind of tourist trap with no actual fact to back it up. Dean seemed to agree just from the sound of his voice. Before the conversation could continue Doris returned with their orders.

"Two coffees, black." She said setting them down in front of Sam and Dean. "Lemonade," She said placing the glass in front of Hugo. Hugo smiled at her and placed his hand to his chin and moving it away. Sam smirked a little at the movement. "And some hot sauce for the-" Doris began but gasped as the hot sauce fell to the floor and shattered. "Whoops. Crap. Sorry." She said turning to Dean. Dean smiled briefly. "Clean up!" She shouted.

After finishing their meal the three left the diner. Hugo walked a little way behind the two brothers, taking note of everything happening around them. A dog barking, several people walking past them in a hurry.

"Sam, you know joints like this are only tourist traps. I mean balls rolling uphill, furniture nailed to the ceiling. The only dangers to your wallet." Dean said, looking at the flyer Sam had found. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Ok, look, I'm just saying there are spots in the world where spots open up and swallow people. The bermuda triangle, the Oregon vortex-" Sam said. Dean cut him off.

"The Broward County Mystery Spot?" Dean asked, mocking his brother.

"Well sometimes these places are legit." Sam argued.

"All right, so if it is legit- and that's a big ass 'if'- what's the lore?" Dean asked, choosing to humor his brother.

"Well-" Sam began. He stopped when a woman bumped into Dean muttering an excuse me as she went. Hugo watched her pass before returning his attention to the brothers. He guessed they had forgotten he was there. At least Dean had. Sam was usually good about remembering Hugo despite his silence. "The lore's pretty freakin' nuts, actually. I mean, they say these places the magnetic fields are so strong that they can bend space time sending victims no one knows where." Sam continued.

"I dunno, sounds a little X-files to me." Dean said. They walked past a pair of movers who were arguing.

"All right, look, I'm not saying this is really happening, but if it is, we have to check it out. See if we can do something." Sam said. He cast a glance over his shoulder to Hugo. Hugo only nodded, agreeing with Sam, even though he was very wrong about the cause of this.

"All right, All right." Dean agreed. "We'll go tonight after they close. Get ourselves a nice, long look." He said.

That night Sam and Dean went to the Mystery Spot, opting to leave Hugo at the motel. Hugo didn't mind. He actually liked being left alone. It gave him time to breathe. Hugo flipped through his sketchbook calmly, trying to piece together what was coming. A soft sound almost like a woosh made Hugo look up. In front of him was a man with golden blonde hair and whiskey gold eyes.

"Hey there, kiddo." The man said with a grin. Hugo narrowed his eyes at the man, frowning in discontent. "Don't give me that look." The man said, keeping his grin.

"I knew there was another trickster here. But I didn't think it was you." Hugo said, looking back to his sketchbook. The man looked at the book himself, curiously examining the images. "What do you want?" Hugo asked.

"Is it wrong to want to talk to you?" The man asked. Hugo looked up at him with a glare.

"You haven't wanted to talk since I was eight. Almost four years ago." Hugo said coldly. The man smiled sadly and nodded in understanding. "What do you want?" Hugo asked again.

"Where's your sister?" The man asked instead of replying. Hugo frowned and returned his attention back to his sketchbook. Dodging questions as always. An annoying habit of the mans.

"I don't know. We got seperated. I'm stuck with these chuckle heads." Hugo said calmly. He didn't want to be calm. He wanted to yell. But he couldn't bring himself to. It was easier, and probably better to make it seem like he didn't care. "Are you going to tell me what you want or am I going to have to make you leave?" Hugo asked, still studying his drawings.

"I'm sorry Hugo. Wish I could tell you why I left." The man said. He smiled softly. "I'm going to be messing with your buddies, hope you don't mind." He added.

"I figured as much. I don't promise I won't tell them what's going on." Hugo said. He glanced up at the other trickster. He frowned seeing the soft smile on the tricksters face. He was trying to frustrate the other trickster. He didn't know where he had gone wrong.

"You're just like your mother." The trickster said before vanishing into thin air. Hugo blinked in surprise. He tried to register what had just happened, but he couldn't make sense of it.

"Whatever dad." Hugo muttered to himself.

Hugo woke suddenly to the same song he had woken up to the day before. He sat up slowly looking around the room. Sam was sitting up in his own bed looking as confused as Hugo felt. After seeing his father, Hugo had no memory of what had happened the night before. He didn't remember Sam and Dean returning or even going to sleep.

"Rise and shine, Sammy!" Dean said. Exactly as he had the day before. Hugo blinked in surprise yet again, looking to Sam for an answer. Sam was too focused on his brother to notice. "Dude. Asia." Dean said with a smirk.

"Dean." Sam said softly.

"Oh come on. You love this song and you know it." Dean said. He reached over and turned the volume up. He mouthed the words as he pointed at Sam, bouncing his head. Just like the day before. As Dean got up and went to the bathroom Sam looked to Hugo. Hugo stared after Dean in confusion.

"What the hell?" Hugo asked. Sam blinked in shock, standing up and following his brother.

The rest of the morning progressed nearly exactly like the morning before had. But Dean seemed to be none the wiser. He acted as if it was the same day all over again.

They went to the same diner and sat in the same booth in the same spots. Hugo could tell his father was in the room again. But he didn't bother looking for him. He was still too weirded out by Dean.

"Hey. Tuesday. Pig 'n a poke." Dean said. Hugo narrowed his eyes at him in confusion. It was Wednesday, wasn't it? Sam looked between the bored and Dean in confusion.

"It's Tuesday?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Dean said with a short nod. Sam looked to Hugo as Doris approached their table. Hugo met his eyes with a confused look.

"Are you boys ready?" Doris asked.

"Yes, I'll have the special, side of bacon and a coffee." Dean said. Doris took it down before turning to Hugo and Sam. Hugo shook his head.

"Uh, nothing for me. Thanks." Sam said, slightly mystified.

"Let me know if you change your mind." Doris said before walking away.

"I'm telling you Sam, this job is small fry. We should be spending our time hunting down Bela." Dean said. Sam continued to look around in shock. Dean looked at him with a frown. "Hey," He said snapping his fingers. "You with me?" He asked. Sam turned his attention back to Dean.

"What?" Sam asked.

"You sure you feeling ok?" Dean asked.

"You don't-" Sam began. "You don't remember any of this?" He asked. Dean looked at him in disbelief.

"Remember what?" Dean asked in confusion.

"This. Today?" Sam asked. "Like- like it's- like it's happened before?" He elaborated. Dean raised an eyebrow.

"You mean like deja vu?" Dean asked.

"No I mean like it's really happened before." Sam said. Hugo frowned, realizing what they were up against. A time loop. That only Sam and Hugo could realize was even occurring. A clever trick.

"Yeah. Like deja vu." Dean said simply.

"No. Forget deja vu." Sam snapped. "I'm asking if it feels like- like we're living yesterday all over again." He said. Dean looked at Sam in confusion.

"Ok, how is that not dej-"

"Don't! Don't say it! Just don't even-" Sam snapped, trying to get his brother to stop talking. Hugo took Sams napkin and wrote on it before sliding it over to him

 _We are. He isn't._

Sam looked at him in confusion. Before Sam could ask Doris came back.

"Coffee, black." She said putting the coffee in front of Dean. "And some hot sauce for the-" She cut off as the hot sauce fell off her tray. Sam caught it before it hit the ground. Doris gasped in shock. "Thanks." She said as Sam handed it back to her. She set the hot sauce down before walking away with a chuckle. Dean looked at Sam impressed.

"Nice reflexes." He complimented.

After Dean finished his meal the three left the diner and walked down the street. It was exactly the same as it had been. Same dog barking. Same people hurrying past. Sam looked around as if in a daze.

"Sam, I'm sorry. I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Dean said in disbelief. Sam sighed.

"Ok, look. Yesterday was Tuesday, right?" Sam asked. He left a pause for Dean to answer, but Dean only glanced to Hugo with a confused look. "But today is Tuesday too." Sam said in complete confusion.

"Yeah. No. Good. You're totally balanced." Dean said.

"So you don't believe me?" Sam asked angrily. Dean laughed. Hugo pulled Dean to the side as the woman brushed past, muttering an excuse me but not stopping. Dean looked from the woman to Hugo in shock.

"Look. I'm just saying it's crazy." Dean said. "Even-for-us crazy. Dingo-ate-my-baby crazy. Hey, maybe it was another one of your psychic premonitions." He suggested. Hugo frowned glancing at Sam. Guess that made sense how Sam knew Hugo was having visions.

"No way. Way too vivid." Sam said firmly. "Ok, look. We were at the Mystery Spot, and then.." Sam trailed off remembering whatever had happened. Hugo assumed it wouldn't be a pleasant memory. His father wasn't always kind. Usually quite the opposite towards hunters.

"And then what?" Dean asked.

"And then I woke up." Sam said. They walked past the movers arguing, taking only a second to glance at them. "Wait a minute, the Mystery Spot!" Sam said, as if having a revelation. "You think maybe it…" He trailed off again.

"Maybe it what?" Dean asked.

"We got to check that place out." Sam said. Dean looked skeptical, but Sam didn't even have to look at his brother to know. "Just go with me on this one." Sam insisted.

"All right, all right." Dean agreed. "We'll go tonight after close, get ourselves a nice, long look." He said. Sam took a moment to register what Dean had said. He quickly turned on his brother.

"Wait. What?" Sam asked. "No." He said. The two stopped walking. Hugo frowned at Sam's reaction. Something bad definitely had happened.

"Why not?" Dean asked.

"Um, let's just go now. Right now. Business hours. Nice and crowded." Sam said with a forced smile. Dean looked at him in disbelief once again. Hugo was surprised Dean could be any more confused by Sam at this point.

"My God, you're a freak." Dean said.

"Dean." Sam snapped.

"Ok. Whatever! We'll go now." Dean snapped, walking towards the street. Sam followed him after a pace or two.

While Dean was crossing the street a car flew past and hit him, throwing him into the air and over the car. The car screeched to a halt as the driver looked to see what had happened.

"Dean!" Sam yelled running into the road to check on Dean. Hugo looked to the driver of the car who only drove away.

That's what his fathers game was. Kill Dean everyday. He must have killed Dean last night at the Mystery Spot. And then started the day over.

Hugo groaned in annoyance when heard the stupid Asia song again. Sam seemed even more spooked than he was previously. He realized what Hugo had before the day restarted. Hugo looked up at Sam and shook his head.

"I'm not." Hugo decided as Dean went into the bathroom. Sam looked at him in confusion. "I'm not leaving this room just to get zapped back here after your brother dies. Good luck figuring out how to get out of this." Hugo said leaning back. Sam blinked in surprise. It was the first time Hugo had said more than a few words to him.

"Right. Do you mind looking into any kind of lore while stay?" Sam asked standing up. Hugo shook his head. "Right, thanks." Sam said. Hugo nodded.

After Sam and Dean left, Hugo opened up Sam's computer. He really didn't have to do research. He knew what was doing this. He'd have to find out a way to clue in Sam without directly telling him. If he showed he knew already it would look suspicious. Like Hugo was involved. And Hugo didn't feel like being accused of anything today.

Hugo didn't know how long he was researching when he found himself waking up to The Heat of the Moment yet again. Hugo groaned in annoyance yet again. He looked over to Sam with narrowed eyes. Sam was reclined back in the bed, looking ready to give up.

At the diner Sam and Dean had the same conversation they had been having while Hugo wrote down a list of creatures capable of creating time loops in theory. It was a pretty short list, so Hugo supposed that was a good thing.

Hugo didn't listen to the conversation at all as he tried to pretend to be ruling creatures off of his list. Angels he had marked off as impossible, just because he was pretty sure at least one of the brothers didn't believe in them. His only other options were demons, tricksters, and pagan deities. Hugo decided to mark off pagan deities as there was no real sacrifice being gained by the deity from trapping targets in a time loop.

Hugo looked up at the sound of Dean choking. Hugo gave a heavy sigh before waking up to the sound of Asia.

Days passed on repeat. No matter what happened and what Sam tried to do to prevent it Dean died. Hugo found himself amused at the manner of Dean's death several times. Only because he knew they would wake up and Dean would be fine the next day. Dean had fallen in the shower and somehow died from that, food poisoning from tacos, electrocuting himself while plugging in a razor, Sam had killed him while fighting over an axe, and even mauled to death by a dog. Once when trying to keep Dean alive they stayed in the motel room and slept in. Somehow, Dean managed to die in his sleep and ruin that plan.

"So the police report says Dexter Hasselback is a professor, but that's not all he is." Sam said working on his computer. Hugo sat beside him, pretending to still be debating between trickster and demon.

"What is he?" Dean asked. Sam smirked, skimming over the professors web page.

"I talked to his daughter. The guy's quite the journalist. Columns in magazines, a blog. He writes about tourist attractions, mystery spots, UFO crash sites. He gets his kicks debunking them. I mean he's already put four of these places out of business. Here." Sam said turning the computer to face Dean.

"'Dexter Hasselback: Truth Warrior'" Dean read off. "More like pompous shmuck, you ask me." He said.

"Yeah, I mean, I've read everything the guys ever written. He must have weighed a ton he was so full of himself." Sam said.

"When'd you have time to do all this research?" Dean asked. Sam and Hugo exchanged a look. They had been splitting research the past few days. One would do research, the other would try to keep Dean from dying. Hugo didn't try very hard when it was his job to watch Dean. It led to funnier deaths if he didn't try.

"Come on." Sam said, picking up his laptop. Hugo stood and followed Sam. Dean chuckled as he stood up.

"What?" Sam asked.

"It's funny, you know. I mean this guy spends his whole life crapping on mystery spots and then he vanishes in one. It's kinda poetic, you know. Like just desserts." Dean said, still chuckling. Hugo smiled and went to his list. He crossed out demons and circled trickster several times.

"You're right. That _is_ just desserts." Sam agreed. He stopped staring at something on the counter. Hugo followed his gaze landing on the strawberry syrup sitting on the counter. Sam glanced down at Hugo. "Wasn't that maple yesterday?" Sam asked. Hugo nodded and showed Sam his list. Sam look at Hugo in realization.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"Guy has maple syrup for the past 100 tuesdays- all of a sudden he's having strawberry?" Sam asked. Dean looked at him in confusion.

"It's a free country. Man can't choose his own syrup, huh? What have we become?" Dean asked sarcastically. Sam didn't humor him.

"Not in this diner. Not today." Sam stated. "Nothing in this place ever changes- ever. Except for me and Hugo."

Very suddenly Hugo opened his eyes hearing Asia play. Hugo didn't remember Dean dying. His father must have realized his mistake and tried to reset before too much damage had been done. That morning passed just as always until the diner.

"So you think your caught in some kind of what again?" Dean asked at the diner. Sam only glared at him.

"Just eat your breakfast." Sam said, turning his attention back to who had to be the trickster. The only one who had changed beside Sam and Hugo.

As soon as the man stood up and left the diner Sam followed him, reaching into the brown paper bag that had the wooden stake in it. Hugo followed Sam without a word as usual. Dean watched them in confusion.

"What's in the bag?" Dean asked. Sam ignored him and continued following the trickster. Dean stood up and paid before following his brother and Hugo.

Outside Sam caught up to the trickster and pushed him up against a fence with the wooden stake pointed at his throat. The man struggled, but remained mostly silent.

"I know who you are. Or should I say 'what'?" Sam asked. Dean looked as his brother as if he had lost his mind. Hugo watched calmly, his hands in his pockets.

"Oh my god, please don't kill me." The trickster pleaded, pretending to be a human. Hugo could of course tell he wasn't. He could feel the power this trickster radiated. He guessed that ability was because he was part trickster.

"Um. Sam…" Dean said in warning.

"It took me a hell of a long time but I got it." Sam said, keeping the stake pressed to the man's neck.

"What?" The man asked, still playing innocent.

"It's your M.O. that gave you away." Sam said. "Going after pompous jerks. Giving them their just desserts." He continued. Dean looked on in disbelief. He most likely thought Sam had gone crazy. "Your kind love that, don't they?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, sure, ok. Just put the stake down." The man pleaded.

"Sam maybe you should-" Dean said.

"No!" Sam snapped. "There's only one creature powerful enough to do what you're doing- making reality out of nothing, sticking people in time loops. In fact you'd pretty much have to be a god. You'd have to be a trickster." Sam said. The man shook in fear.

"Mister, my name is Ed Coleman. My wife's name's Nicole. I've got two kids. For crying out loud I sell ad space!" The trickster. Hugo frowned as he listed off the supposed family. He wasn't technically lying there, but Hugo wasn't going to defend him.

"Don't lie to me! I know what you are!" Sam yelled. "We've killed one of your kind before!"

The trickster decided then to morph into his normal form. He grinned at Sam despite there being a stake to his throat. Hugo suspected he knew he could escape if Sam decided to kill him. Or he knew Sam needed him to end the time loop. Sam's face fell in surprise.

"Actually, Bucko, you didn't." He said. Dean looked between Sam and the trickster in shock.

"Why are you doing this?" Sam demanded. The trickster narrowed his eyes.

"You're joking right?" He asked. "You chuckleheads tried to kill me last time. Why _wouldn't_ I do this?"

"And Hasselback, what about him?" Dean demanded. The trickster moved his eyes over to Dean.

"That putz?" The trickster asked. "He said he didn't believe in wormholes, so I dropped him in one." The trickster laughed as Dean looked away in exasperation. Hugo hid his face in his hand. He couldn't say he was surprised. Haven would have done the same thing, but she always did take more after their father. "Then you guys showed up. I made you the second you guys hit town."

"So this is fun for you?" Sam asked. "Killing Dean over and over again?" Dean looked at Sam with concern. The trickster acknowledged the look with an eye roll.

"One- yes, it is fun." The trickster admitted. Hugo sighed heavily. "And two- this is _so_ not about killing Dean. This joke, is on _you_ Sam. Watching your brother die everyday. Forever."

"You son of a bitch." Sam said much quieter than anything else he had said to the trickster.

"How long will it take you to realize, you can't save your brother… No matter what." The trickster said calmly. Sam's lip quirked up at the corner, like he was trying to smile but couldn't manage it.

"Oh yeah? I kill you, this all ends now." Sam said, raising the stake. The trickster moved back quickly.

"Oh, hey, whoa, ok! Ok, look. I was just playing around. You can't take a joke. Fine. You're out of it. Tomorrow, you wake up it'll be Wednesday. I swear." The trickster said.

"You're lying." Sam said simply. Hugo couldn't blame him for not believing the trickster. He'd been through hell at the hands of this trickster.

"If I am, you know where to find me." The trickster said. "Having pancakes at the diner." Sam and Dean shared a look.

"No, easier just to kill you." Sam said. The trickster smirked.

"Sorry, kiddo. Can't have that." The trickster snapped his fingers before Sam could react to his words.

Hugo woke up to a different song this time. Another one he couldn't identify off the top of his head. But it wasn't Heat of the Moment, so that was a bright side. Hugo sat up to see Sam sitting up in the bed, and Dean already up and in the bathroom.

"What are you gonna sleep all day?" Dean asked. Sam looked at him with a frown.

"No Asia?" Sam asked. Hugo held back a laugh.

"Yeah, I know. This station sucks." Dean said. Sam looked at the radio and gasped.

"It's Wednesday." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, which usually comes after Tuesday." Dean said calmly. "Turn that thing off, would you?" He asked turning away.

"What are you kidding?" Sam asked standing up. "This isn't the most beautiful song you've ever heard?"

"No," Dean said. "Jeez, how many Tuesdays did you have?" Sam looked down at Hugo who shrugged.

"Don't know. We lost count." Sam admitted. "Hey, wait. What do you remember?" Sam asked looking up as Dean as he put on a button up shirt over his t-shirt.

"I remember you both were pretty whacked out of it yesterday, then I remember running into the trickster." Dean said. Sam nodded. "But, no, that's about it."

"All right. Pack your stuff. Let's get the hell out of town- now." Sam said as he buttoned up his shirt. Dean looked at him in confusion.

"No breakfast?" Dean asked.

"No breakfast." Sam confirmed.

Dean went out to pack the car while Sam and Hugo finished clearing out the motel room. They weren't in there long. But both froze hearing something like a gunshot outside. Hugo sighed heavily where he stood.

"You've got to be kidding me." He mumbled when Sam called out for Dean. Sam ran outside. Hugo sighed once more and followed Sam outside. In the parking lot Dean was bleeding out from a bullet wound. Sam was holding Dean, pleading to be able to wake up. But Hugo had a feeling, this time his father meant business.

Six months later Hugo stood in the mystery spot Sam had torn apart many times. His father was there with him. Hugo had his arms crossed as he watched his father set a trap for Sam.

"Was all of this necessary?" Hugo asked.

"I think so." His father answered. "Let me guess, you don't approve." He said turning to Hugo. Hugo frowned leaning against the wall.

"No, I get it." Hugo said softly. "I just keep thinking, mom would be disappointed." His father stopped what he was doing, clearly getting lost in thought. He let out a heavy sigh before returning to the trap.

"Yeah. You're probably right." He agreed. "You going to stick around when Sammy shows up?"

"No, he doesn't need to know." Hugo said calmly. "I'd hate for them to know I'm related to you." He meant it to be a joke. But it came out flat. There was an awkward pause between the two. "Are you going to send us back?" Hugo asked.

"That remains to be seen." His father admitted.

Hugo got his answer when he woke up listening to the same song from Wednesday. Sam was slowly sitting up in his bed. Dean was once again in the bathroom. Hugo looked at Sam and smiled. It looks like his father felt some pity towards Sam after all.

"What, are you gonna sleep all day?" Dean asked. Sam looked up at Dean in complete shock. "I know, no Asia. This station sucks."

"It's Wednesday." Sam said slowly. Dean nodded.

"Yeah, which usually follows Tuesday." He said, as if amused by his brothers words. "Turn that thing off." Sam stood and crossed the room to his brother and hugged him. Hugo smiled softly at the display of brotherly affection.

"Dude, how many Tuesdays did you have?" Dean asked.

"Too many." Hugo answered for Sam. Dean looked over at Hugo surprised to hear him talk.

"Wait. What do you remember?" Sam asked, stepping away from Dean.

"I remember you both were pretty whacked out yesterday. I remember catching up with the trickster. That's about it." Dean answered. Sam nodded.

"Let's go." Sam said.

"No breakfast?" Dean asked, sounding disappointed.

"No breakfast." Sam confirmed.

"All right. I'll pack the car." Dean said, turning. Sam stopped him, by grabbing his arm.

"Wait. You're not going anywhere alone." Sam said. Dean looked at Sam in disbelief.

"It's the parking lot Sam." Dean turned to Hugo, looking for support. It was something he did often, hoping Hugo might back him up and get him his way. It rarely worked.

"Just, just trust me." Sam pleaded. Dean looked him in the eye and nodded.

The boys packed up quickly. Hugo helping them as quickly as he could. He could understand not wanting to stay there anymore. He really didn't want to be there anymore himself. He was going to hate having to tell Haven he saw their father. She would be upset she didn't get to see him too.

"Hey, you don't look so good, something else happen?" Dean asked as they went to go out the door.

"I just had a really weird dream." Sam said slowly. Dean nodded in understanding.

"Clowns or midgets?" Dean asked with a teasing smile. Sam smiled a little forcefully as Dean left. Sam glanced at Hugo.

"You ok?" Sam asked. Hugo smiled softly and placed his thumb against his chest, his hand open. Sam frowned not understanding that bit of sign language. Hugo laughed a little before walking out of the room, leaving Sam to follow.


End file.
